The Atoms track squad looks to continue their early season success with a strong showing at their two upcoming competitions: a district meet at Thomas Jefferson on April 27 and an invitational at Chantilly High School on April 30.
The runners have already seen so much improvement and have recorded very impressive times so far.
“I have definitely ran good in some races, but sometimes my performance is not at the level I want it to be at,” sophomore distance runner Semir Ali said.
During the most recent district meet at Hayfield on April 20, many of the distance runners earned personal bests for their runs, including junior Liam McGinity with a time of 2:18 in the 800m race and freshman Cooper Holtz with a time of 5:38 in the 1600m race.
The distance team has been able to be very successful this season, which can be credited to the hard work they have put in.
Not only have they trained at practice every single day after school, but they have also been practicing early in the morning before school several days a week.
This dedication has brought the team together and has given them the chance to improve their endurance and technique in a major way.
“Over the past few weeks we have seen amazing improvement from our runners and every athlete has gotten a PR at least once,” senior distance runner Liam McGinity said. “Morning practices have been extremely beneficial to us distance runners by increasing our strength, making running faster even easier for us.”
Also, the sprinters and jumpers have performed tremendously this season.
“The season is going well for me and my teammates,” junior jumper and sprinter Miles Lanham said. “We took home a lot of medals from the last invites but there is still so much more left in the season.”
Lanham currently sits at the top spot as the number one long jumper, triple jumper, and 400m runner in the region.
In addition, junior sprinter Maximo Krause currently has the fastest time in the district for the 300m hurdles and is one of the best hurdlers in the region.
Overall, the sprinter and jumper squads have many talented athletes who have the ability to compete with the best of the best, meaning they have their sights on district, regional, and state competitions.
“I have not yet accomplished my goals and I cannot wait for more opportunities to do so,” Lanham said.
With several meets remaining before the district and regional meets, all of the runners have time to train hard, improve their skills, and get fast times before their times really matter.