Trojans show out at Bayshore Championship
The Trojans’ track and field team crushed it at the NCS Bayshore Area Championships, with girls tying for second overall. Multiple student athletes competed at NCS on May. 17 in Vallejo and achieved remarkable results in their events. It is very impressive to note that the varsity girls team secured a back-to-back league championship at the WACC Championship, and multiple students qualified to compete at NCS.
While competing at NCS is impressive in itself, many athletes set personal or season records at the meet. One very impressive feat is that the girls four by 100 meter relay team broke a school record for the second time this school year. Previously, these girls had already broken the record in a meet a few weeks prior. However, at NCS, these girls outdid themselves and beat their own new record.
The four by 100 meter relay team consists of Carrie Lee, Idara Essien, Hailey Smith, and Mia Kovaks. These girls have trained tirelessly to work on their handoffs and push themselves to be their best. Despite challenges throughout the season, they have persevered. Lee suffered a major setback at the beginning of the season because she broke her collarbone while wrestling. This was a major obstacle for her because it caused her to miss a lot of valuable time that she could have been training. In fact, at the start of the season, she was a whole second slower in the 100 meters, which is a big deal for sprinters.
“I felt like I had regressed two years and lost all of my progress. I was no longer on the four by 100 meters, which discouraged me a lot, but a talk with my coach motivated me. I trained harder and at one point my body had more determination than my brain,” commented Lee. Lee is the first leg in the relay and works to give her team the best start she can.
Essien is also on the girls four by 100 meters team, and she has continually shown a strong ability in the long jump and sprinting. She is moving on to the NCS Meet of Champions for sprinting, long jumping, and the four by 100 meters.
Finally, other very impressive achievements were from Nathaniel Belli and Andrew Arias in shotput and discus. They placed third and twelfth respectively.
