The girls’ indoor track and field team competed at a meet in Spire in Geneva, Ohio, on Jan. 23. The girls showcased their dedication, hard work, and skills in these events by breaking class records, setting PRs (personal records), and finishing first out of 12 other teams.
“There’s always somebody that makes a big impact, someone that does something you don’t expect,” distance coach Adam Swiat said.
Notable finishes in the sprint events include Sophia Eccher’s 4th place in the 400m, Nicole Kemp’s 6th place in the 200m, and Charieon Doxley’s 2nd place in the long jump and hurdles. Charieon Doxley came into the meet ranked 3rd in Ohio and holds the school record for hurdles.
“Charieon Doxley has a good shot of winning the long jump again, she took second in the hurdles last time, she’s looking to try maybe to improve and she’s running the 100m,” Swiat said.
In the distance races, senior Mae Mohar finished 2nd in the 3200m and is currently the school record holder in this event. The coaches hoped that her time would qualify her for the All-Star-Meet. As for sophomore Luna Marquez-Potts, she PR’d in the mile. Every distance runner had a goal in mind, whether it was to have a qualifying time or improve in their race.
“Making sure I didn’t fall behind and picking someone to stick with,” Marquez-Potts said.
The night’s highlight was when captain Josie Kavc dressed up like Coach Swiat, known for his neon colors, and helped time the 3200m runners.
Two students, Josie Willis (freshman weight thrower) and Makaylee Alvis (sophomore weight thrower) broke class records. New weight throwers like Era Lulo competed in their first meet and had goals set in mind before the meet started.
“I was feeling very nervous, but I know that as long as I do my best, I know I’ll be fine,” Lulo said. “I was hoping to not get last place.”
The relays had strong finishes as well, including the 4 by 400m team (Mady Lee, Anna Daso, Nicole Kemp, and Lucy Jablonski) placing 4th, the 4 by 200m team (Sophia Eccher, Lucy Jablonski, Nicole Kemp, and Charieon Doxley) placing 2nd, and finally, the 4 by 800m team (Anna Daso, Mady Lee, Mae Mohar, and Josie Kavc) placing 4th. All relays made strong improvements and hopefully qualified for the All-Star Meet.
“I’m hoping our 4 by 800m relay run is good enough time to qualify for the All-Star-Meet,” Swiat said.
The girls overcame obstacles such as cold days limiting practices, canceled track meets, and bus shortages. Good news came on Wednesday that Spire was rescheduling the meet to Thursday, which gave athletes a chance to run and qualify for the All-Star Meet.
“With our league only having three meets to be able to qualify to the All-Star-Meet, we kind of stacked our girls in events that we needed them to get one in, just in case our next meet gets canceled,” Swiat said. “We were very fortunate that they were able to move our canceled meeting from yesterday to today.”
Even with creativity at home to prepare for the meet, the team dominated the track by PRing in individual events, breaking class records, and placing first as a team. With this in mind, the team will be ready to race in their final meet in a few weeks and lead into the All-Star-Meet.
“Like every meet, we have the opportunity to get better and we’re looking to improve,” Swiat said. “Anytime you have a chance to go against someone that’s not wearing a Lakewood jersey you can improve yourself.”
This team still has challenges ahead, but they will overcome them together. The team and coaches encourage each other to stay motivated and dedicated to every race, jump, and throw.
“Don’t doubt yourself, you’ve done the hard work, and you’ve done the training,” Swiat said. “Go out and just enjoy it.”
