By Bella Ghile
Winter sports are coming towards a screeching halt as fall sports are starting to begin. One of those many sports is Track and Field. Track first began around early November, lasting all the way up to early February, with the exception of a few extra meets for a few exemplary athletes. Like many other sports, there is an option for students to move on to compete at a district, regional, and even a state level. This is especially exciting for students because it gives them a chance to explore their passions while also receiving sought-after recognition. This past Saturday, districts took place for Herndon High School Track students. Afterward, I was Herndon's Shotput Team; From Left to Right,
able to talk to Junior Conor Gillingham, a Jasmine Robinson, Kenzie Swanson, William
runner from Herndon that had participated, Thomas, Lainey Bradley, Mark Ellison,
about the details of the event. Gavinmarc Esperanza
The District meet was held outside due to the ongoing coronavirus. In a normal year, meets are held indoor for winter Track because of the weather. However on Saturday, “It was actually super warm”. This sliver of warm weather amidst cold meet days gave students a better advantage to perform well, “I did get two PR’s,” said Gilingham.
Along with the meet being held outdoors, there was a condensed number of schools performing: Yorktown, Washington-Liberty, South Lakes, and Herndon. “There were different places for districts this year,” Gilingham remarked; it was done this way to make it a safer event. And due to “lack of participants”, there were no relays. This caused for a shorter meet time, “maybe around three and a half hours.” While some meets can go up to five hours or more.
“We have to wear masks 24/7 unless we are drinking water.” Students were expected to wear their masks while competing, “sometimes people’s masks’ slip down… but I wouldn’t say it’s intentional,” said Gillingham.
In a race, many of the runners towards the finish line have had their masks fall off the bridge of their noses, but typically this is expected to happen, and often doesn’t result in any significant issues. Whereas, “if there is someone who pulls down their mask intentionally,” then “they would end up getting disqualified in their race.” This caused some issues and resentment between the runners and the enforcers. It’s hard to question whether or not a person’s mask falls out of place intentionally if it was bound to fall off anyway. Students also had to bring their own equipment, and plus, all of the high schools were separated into different classrooms at the school building to limit contact between each school.
But what about the audience? “If there are spectators, they are supposed to stay outside the boundaries of the track or the stadium… to not be qualified as spectators [by school standards].” Gillingham recalled how at South Lakes, spectators had to stay outside the fence surrounding the track to be able to watch the meet.
Throughout all of this craziness, Gillingham said, “it was still fun to go out and run while I had nothing to do. It was nice to have an activity to keep me busy.”
Track presented itself in a different way, but it was obvious everyone gave their best efforts, so congrats to everyone that competed at Districts and a special shout out to everyone moving on to Regionals!
Sophomore Gillian Bushee was crowned Girls Liberty District Champion for the 1000m and 3200m. Junior Kenzie Swanson was the Girls Shot Put District Champion, for Herndon’s first time since 2001, and was accompanied by Junior runner-up Lainey Bradley, and Sophomore Jasmine Robinson. For the Boys Shot Put, Sophomore Gavinmarc Esperanza will be moving on.
Junior Abigail Bachman, Sophomore Denzel Webb, and Senior Josh Cooper will be moving on for the 500m Dash; Webb made it 8th in school history and Bachman 8th. For long distances, sophomore Tea Geary will be moving on for the 1600m and 3200m. Junior Nicholas Yerovi will be moving on for 1000m. Junior Daniel Robles was a triple threat, moving on for the Hurdles, Long Jump, and High Jump. To finish it off, Senior Bryana Webb will be moving on for the Long Jump, and Senior
Denzel Webb, Running the 500m Dash Jessica Hermus, along with Sophomore Jasmine
Robinson, will be moving on for the High Jump. Best
of luck to all these students moving onto Regionals!