After months of practice and hard work, the track and field team began attending meets to kick off their season. With a bit of experience under their belt now, track members have high hopes for themselves and the team as a whole for the remainder of the season.

“For me, I am excited for the four by eight and how far we will go this year. I know we are going to the [Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) finals]. I am looking forward to it and seeing whether or not we will place,” junior Jaden Winterhalter said.

Being able to see glimpses of success in their first few meets, the team can confidently set goals for themselves that they hope to achieve by the end of the season. Many members have set big goals for the team and themselves, such as placing highly in the WPIAL finals. Most even have more minor achievements they hope to accomplish, such as winning their event in their next meet or breaking their personal records. All of the athletes on the track team have many things they are hopeful to achieve during this track season, and they plan to make these milestones come to fruition.

“This year, I hope to break my personal best in discus at my next track meet. For the team, I hope that we can get as many people to win their events as possible,” junior Jenna Haskey said.

With the beginning of the season underway, the track and field team has found themselves making progress during their meets. To prepare for the regular season, the team competed in a scrimmage held at South Side on March 15. During this meet, the Bulldogs went up against the South Side Rams and the Central Valley Warriors. A week later, on March 22, the team jumped into their first home meet, where they took on the Beaver and Beaver Falls track and field programs. These two matchups gave the team a great baseline of competition to make goals and depict how their season could play out. On Apr. 4, the team hosted their first section meet of the season. This meet consisted of Rochester, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH) and South Side. 

Though there are many things that the members of the track team want to accomplish this season, it is important to acknowledge the things they have already accomplished. It is crucial to celebrate achievements, otherwise the achievement may feel less fulfilling. Many of the athletes on the team have already accomplished some of their goals, such as breaking their personal records or placing highly in events. Even first-year members have already impressed themselves by the multitude of feats they have accomplished. For example, Haskey, who just joined the team this year, was proud of the score she achieved in the discus throwing event. Setting goals is important, but completing and acknowledging them is as well.

“A goal we have achieved this year was getting more girls to compete in each event so that we can make it to the team playoffs. We have a girl in almost every event this year, and we have beat every team in our section so far,” junior Madison Meyer said.