On April 4 and 5, Lovejoy’s track and field teams competed in districts at Lovejoy High School. The varsity boys and girls teams received 182 points and 216 points respectively.
“Our strongest girls and boys from the JV and varsity teams get to compete at districts,” junior Rachel Dobbs said. “Those in varsity that received first through fourth place will compete at regionals.”
The teams competed against McKinney North, Sherman, Denison, Greenville, Melissa, and Princeton. Lovejoy stood out against their competitors, with only McKinney North taking top spots from the boys varsity team.
“We enter our top athletes in as many events as we can for the district meet,” head boys coach Logan Kelly said. “Lovejoy and McKinney North have the highest number of entries for the meet and there is a strong correlation to team success with the high numbers. It increases your team’s odds of scoring more points.”
There was huge success on the girls field side of the meet. Seniors Lauren Dolberry stood out amongst competitors at triple jumps, improving by two feet and receiving third place overall, with a jump of 35-5.75, allowing her to move on to districts. The girls varsity shot put team all advanced to the finals, allowing for two to move on. Similarly, the girls varsity discus team has two members advancing to the regional championship. Junior Rachel Dobbs performed well in long jump with a mark of 16-10.25, showing off the athletic prowess that was prominent on the girls team.
“We had so many awesome performances,” head girls coach Carly Littlefield said. “Everyone competed to the best of their abilities and made me so proud.”
On the track side, the girls dominated the competition. For the 3200 meters, senior Sara Morefield, sophomore Carmyn Benson, and senior Peyton Benson placed first, second, and third, respectively. In the 400 meters, junior Mia Reaugh, senior Kailey Littlefield, and sophomore Cailee Horinek placed first through third, with times of 58.48, 59.55, and 1:00.56 respectively. Lovejoy placed first in the 4×400 meter relay and dominated the 1600 meter.
“Everyone on the team did really well and our whole team is full of strong athletes who competed their very best,” freshman Talia Orshalik said.
On the boys side of the meet, they were triumphant. Senior Colston Adamson placed first in the triple jump with a mark of 46-0 and also placed first in long jump with a mark of 23-4. Seniors Mason Dragoo and Nick Perez are moving on to the next competition after placing second and third respectively. Senior Nick Perez and junior John Michael Martin are moving on for the discus team after placing first and second with marks of 146-6 and 136-6, respectively.
“I think our boys performed very well at the District Meet,” Kelly said. “We had a strong showing on day 1 with the 3200M run and all field events.”
For the boys team, the track side of the meet showcased their athleticism. Junior Aaron Wimbish placed first in the 3200 meters with a time of 9:50.56. Junior Caden Gary was the star of the show after placing third in the 3200 meters and placing first in both the 800 meters and 1600 meters.
“The strongest athlete for distance has to be Caden Gary,” junior Aaron Wimbish said. “The teams did great on both boys and girls side depth wise against deep teams like Mckinney North.”
Once the district meet finished, athletes focused on the area championship, which was held at Lancaster High School on Thursday, April 11th. The teams fulfilled their goal of bringing as many athletes to the area meet as possible, and they competed well again.
“Our goal was to win both JV and varsity and advance as many athletes as possible to the area championship, and we accomplished our goal,” Littlefield said.
The girls team placed second at area, and the boys team was there too. Many athletes will be moving onto regionals on April 19 and 20 at UT Arlington.
“We have been training since January and February every day,” Dobbs said. “We are so committed to every single moment. During spring break, aspiring athletes worked out together almost every day at the high school in order to maintain their peak fitness levels. We are ready to dominate.”
