The leopards track team competed this past Saturday in the Mckinney Boyd relays. It was the first official meet of the season, and the team broke three school records.
“I’m so excited to finally start racing,” senior Katie Armstrong said. “I love track a lot and it has been a long season of training this winter, so I’m ready to get into the regular season with races every weekend. We have done a lot of preparation for this season including a lot of mileage and extra work with hand-offs and blocks. We also have been working a lot in the weight room and training every day.”
The boys and girls sprint medley and the girls’ distance medley broke the school record.
“Breaking school records is always a feel-good for the kids,” head coach Carly Littlefield said. “When your name goes down as being the best that ever walked through Lovejoy, that’s something to be proud of.”
The boys as a group placed fifth in the 4×400 relay and second in the distance medley relay. Tate Barr placed third in the 3200 meter, Matthew Murray received fourth in the 1600 meter and Jaxson Lavender placed fifth in the 100 meter.
“We need to work more on our relays and open events because we have a lot of potential,” junior Mason Wallace said. “The girls also had a good first meet and I know that they will consistently improve throughout the season.”
The girls also placed first in the 4×400 relay. In regards to solo performances for the girls, Kailey Littlefield placed first and Amy Morefield received second place in the 1600 meter, and Leila Ngapout placed third in the 100 meter.
“For the most part we had very solid performances at McKinney Boyd,” Littlefield said. “We have a lot of work left to do to reach our goals, but it was a solid start. Some highlights were: Sara Morefield with a giant PR of 5:12 in the mile, Leila Ngapout with a new 12.5 PR in the 100 meter dash, and our throwers having a very great day.”
The team will be competing again at Allen for the next meet on Friday.
“Going into the next race we are probably all just trying to improve on our times and focus and get new personal records,” Armstrong said. “In regards to the season, a big goal is to win the team title for districts and send as many people as possible to the state meet in May.”
