Track season has officially ended. The team Performed well all season, through district, then had athletes make it to regionals and even two, senior Braydon Nelson and junior Jacory Walton, placing in state. The team fought hard and as a result, went far this year.
“I want to thank all my coaches, my grandparents and my mom,” Nelson said. “They always support me and coach me to fix all of my mistakes and help me realize what I had to do to get back to this stage.”
Walton placed second in high jump at regionals and placed sixth at state.
“Just keep your head up, keep moving forward and believe in yourself no matter what,” Walton said. “Even at practice, be your best even if you don’t feel like it.”
Leaving regionals with two winning titles, one for shot put and one for discus, then going on to place first in discus and second in shot put at state, Nelson has come a long way.
“You have to have a strong mentality because you can’t let things like one bad throw affect you,” Nelson said. “Just realize what you did wrong, correct it, and fix things in practice.”
There were a total of seven athletes competing at regionals: senior Zachery Gutierrez, senior Samuel Warren, junior Ruby Almanza, junior Luciano Brizuela, and sophomore Cameron Christian. Each one of them trained hard, worked hard and tried their best.
“Coach Gillen-Hall never gave
up on me. I was in a car crash and flipped and ended in a ditch upside down and pushed me to be where I am right now,” Gutierrez said. “He has never given up on me even when I’ve given up on myself.”
Head Boys Track Coach Timothy Gillen-Hall is proud of all his athletes, and he wants them to know they each deserve and earned their place at a competition.
“They have to remember that they earned the right to be there; they deserve it,” Gillen-Hall said. “It’s important to have confidence in the things you have done all year to get there, to remember all the hard work you’ve put in that led you there. To remember that the people you are competing against are just like you. All you can control is going and doing your very best and see where that puts you.”
