On Saturday, June 1st, four of our Kearsley High School students went to state’s for track. State’s are not easy, it is very competitive. There are many different events for athletes to compete in and everyone is trying their best and putting in their all. It rained at state’s, but that didn’t stop our students from pushing through.
Sophomore, Jamarion Richards went to state’s last year for high jump and long jump. This year he went to state’s for the same events. He was asked what he placed at state’s and he replied, “I got second in high jump.” Richards jumped 6 feet and 6 inches at state’s this year. High jump is a field event in track and takes a lot of hard work and dedication.
Some students went to state’s for the first time this year. Junior, Ethan Sellers was one of them. He was questioned about what event he ran and he exclaimed, “The 3200 meter run.” The 3200 meter run is 2 miles or 8 times around the track. This takes a great amount of strategy. It requires pacing yourself, but also trying to be quick and pass the finish line at the same time. Sellers was asked about his time, he stated, “I ran 9:40 at states.”
Senior, Emma Fessler also went to state’s for the first time this year. Graduation was the same day as state’s and this did not exactly excite the runners. Fessler did like being able to go to state’s, but was not very excited that both the state meet and graduation were on the same day. She said, “I liked it a lot, but I didn’t have much time to enjoy it because I had to rush home for graduation!”
Fessler went to state’s for high jump and tied in 19th place with a few other girls. She was asked if she PR’d (Personal Record) while there, she commented, “unfortunately I did not PR at state’s, I jumped 4 ’10 at state’s, but my last meet before I jumped 5′ 1.” High jump is a difficult event to keep getting PR’s in.
Senior, Ava Boggs also had state’s and graduation on the same day. She exclaimed, “I did enjoy state’s because the weather was not super hot like the previous year. This year we did have rain, and I like to run in the rain. But, I also was late to graduation because of state’s.” Boggs was asked if she had been to state’s before this year, she replied, “I have been to state’s before during the spring season of 2023 also for the 800.” The 800 meter run is 2 laps around the track or half a mile.
Boggs placed 13th in the 800 meter run. She was questioned if she PR’d, she commented, “I did PR. Before my time was a 2:21.33. After it was a 2:21.13.” The 800 meter run is difficult, it takes a great amount of strategy. You have to pace and push yourself.
Overall our students performed very well at state’s. Some students have been to state’s before while others went for the first time. The athletes performed excellently in the events they participated in. Track is not an easy sport; it takes a lot of hard work, training, and dedication. The track team had a good season with a lot of growth from each individual. We’re excited to see what next year will bring!
