On February 13 and 14, members of the indoor track team will compete in the Indoor Track State Championship. Only the athletes who are qualified to compete will be able to participate.

“When we go to states and take large groups of kids that have spent so many days and hours preparing for this moment, it looks great!” said Head Coach Ann Graham. “It proves that the coaching staff has put in place effective training that the kids are benefitting from.”

Coach Graham, along with four other coaches, has worked to motivate and train the athletes to qualify for states. Each athlete trains in different ways to prepare for their event.

“My coaches motivate me a lot,” said Captain Breanne Bygrave. “They help me fix things that they see I’m doing wrong, even if I may not notice.”

Even though track has many individual events, the team also relies on each other for motivation.

“Right now, I’m the only distance runner to qualify so I’m trying to get my other teammates to qualify as well so we can go together,” said senior Tre Brooks

Coach Graham promotes and pushes her team to help encourage each other just as Brooks does.

“It is a team effort to motivate each other and help reach higher heights,” said Coach Graham. “If they all applaud each other along the way then they can motivate themselves to be the best they can be. The slogan is this: ‘You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to become great!’”

Another thought that motivates the athletes is the chance for a scholarship.

“Ever since I started running,” said junior Dylan Peebles, “I’ve wanted to get a scholarship. It motivates me to do better. During practice, I run a little farther than the distance I’m supposed to run in meets to help me train. I want to win the state meet.”

State meets are one of the athletes’ greatest chances to be noticed by colleges for a scholarship.

“The high school athletes who are able to compete at the state level have a better chance of being recruited by college coaches and being rewarded with athletic scholarships,” said Coach Graham. “The state meet is the plateau for them to blossom and be looked at by recruiters, peers, and coaches. They are provided a ranking based on their performance within the state and throughout the nation.  When they are able to compete against the best they excel at higher levels. It is not going to be easy; you must be fearless. You have to go after the win and the rest will come.”