The first official outdoor meet took place this past Friday and Saturday for the track team. The athletes headed to Mckinney Boyd High School to compete in the meet following the Arkansas meet.
“As a whole we had a lot of great things happen,” head coach Carly Littlefield said. “Our field event kids got us off to a great start followed by a 1-2-3 finish in the two mile. We had some exciting performances in the relays. It was a great start to the season.”
The girls placed first in three relays as a team. They took home first in the 4×400 meter relay, sprint medley relay and the distance medley relay.
“I think that the girls raced amazing this weekend considering how cold it was,” senior Amy Morefield said. “No one complained about it and everyone was just tough and got through it. The field events went amazing and that is what stood out the most considering there were a lot of personal bests.”
The boys also placed first in a relay; the group was the first to finish in the 4×800 meter relay race.
“This year’s boys team is very strong and we will for sure have success,” sophomore William Carlson said. “We are a fairly young team made up of mainly sophomores and juniors. Because we are so young we will be improving a lot throughout the season.”
The girls found some success in the 3200 meter run. Senior Amy Morefield finished in first along with junior Sara Morefield in second, freshman Camryn Benson right behind in third and junior Kailey Littlefield rounding it out in fourth.
“We have a very unified group of young ladies who pull for each other and understand the team concept of track and field,” Littlefield said. “That’s hard to achieve in track and field because most people think of it as an individual sport; they get wrapped up in me – my competition. But we see it differently. We are in it for each other and we make each other better.”
In the 3200 meter run for the boys, five runners concluded the race in the top ten. Carlson finished in second with sophomore Tyler Morefield in third. Sophomore Joseph O’Brien finished right behind in fourth along with sophomore Adam Morefield in fifth. Sophomore Aaron Wimbish rounded out the group in tenth.
“One strength is that most of the team is very versatile,” Carlson said. “We can run lots of different events very well. Although most distance guys only run mile and two mile, our team is also able to run the 800 and 400 at a high level.”
There were many other notable finishers for the girls at the meet. Senior Leila Ngaput took second in the 100 meter dash and sophomore Caroline Matthews finished fifth in the 1600 meter run. In the 300 meter hurdles, junior Lauren Dolberry finished fourth.
“I think that this year, a big factor contributing to the success is how close we are, and how much the team has grown,” Morefield said. “We also have gotten a lot of talent this year with all the freshmen coming in and there’s been a lot of people that have clearly been putting in work behind the scenes to get really good.”
More finishers for the boys included junior Nick Yarad who placed second and junior Joel Bluestein who finished fourth in the 1600 meter run. Junior Dante Dean and sophomore Daylan McCutheon both finished in the top five in long jump. In discus, juniors Ridge Barker finished second along with Nick Perez, who finished third. Junior Mason Dragoo placed fourth, sophomore John Michael Martin in fifth and senior West Wilson in sixth. Wilson also placed second in shot put, while Perez finished it in fourth place.
“We ensure success by showing up to practice every day and giving our best effort,” Carlson said. “We listen to what our coach tells us and strive to be better daily.”
The team will head into their third meet of the year at Allen on Thursday and Friday.
“I expect us to continue to grow together,” Littlefield said. “I expect everyone to work hard to achieve her full potential. I expect great attitudes, relentless work ethic and attention to detail. When we achieve those things, we will see some amazing results.”
