This month on April second and third, The Lovejoy Track Team attended Districts. The meet was held at the Lovejoy Stadium with various schools attending to challenge the runners and field participants. Both the varsity and JV teams participated in the meet. The end result of the meet was a tie between the Lovejoy and Mckinney North team. The success of the meet was well earned and worked for by the participants of the Lovejoy Track Team.
The process leading up to the meet consisted of a daily practice that lasted for a duration of three hours. “We had to put in a lot of work each day including hard workouts and practices outside of school hours to achieve the results we wanted” Sophomore varsity runner Talia Orshalick said,“but I’m happy we did it because it paid off!”
The JV team dominated at districts, winning every relay and securing the win for Lovejoy JV. Varsity also dominated the 4×4 missing one of the participants for the starting lineup. Luckily, Senior runner Campbell Lester came to the rescue for the event. Many of the events including both JV and Varsity were competitive, but Lovejoy secured the win on many events which is what ultimately led to the end results of the meet.
Missing a person for the Varsity 4×4 relay just shows how talented the team is because of the fact that they can confidently put someone in and secure a victory in the event. “I knew that Campbell would pull through for our team,” Orshalick said.
The entire meet was hand in hand between Mckinney North and Lovejoy. The scores of the meet show high placing runners and field event participants for both teams. The entire race was neck in neck but what really pulled Lovejoy through was the throwers. Mckinney North was predicted to win the meet because they were seeded higher until the throwers started their event.
Shot Put had changed for the field participants due to the fact that graduating seniors left the year prior but,“Throws went really well for us this year,” Shot Put participant Sienna Franks said. Sienna Franks and Natalie Lenart placing in the top 6, as well as Anna Frost and Teni Segun throwing Discus to finish in the top three, “gave us enough points to tie with Mckinney North” Franks said.
All in all, the meet was a huge success for the Track team. Lovejoy bonded over the meet, and the teammates developed a closer relationship because of Districts. The fight to win created memories for the team that would last far past their high-school career.
“Despite districts being our most intense competition of the year, it shows how close our team is that we can cheer for each other and leave laughing!” Senior Discus thrower Anna Frost said.
