By Prescott Osuchukwu
Placing high in invitational meets, this year’s 60-member track team boasts both a successful season and two state ranked seniors – Max Estill and Sterling Jones. Estill, a high jumper, and Jones, a sprinter, have both been in track since their freshmen year and have become the key athletes on the team.
At the Coppell Invitational, Sterling ran a 10.65 in the 100 meter dash, his fastest time of the year and a 21.48 in the 200 meter dash, also a season best. Estill had a season best jump of 6’6″ at the Texas A&M Indoor Classic.
“Max and Sterling are the highlight seniors,” coach Greg Guillory said. “They are both in their 4th years of track and field and have progressed into national level talents in their events.“
Both of their achievements are based on nationwide statistics from last year. Last season, Max advanced to State, and Sterling placed at Regionals. This year, the entire team plans to sweep State with their two key athletes.
The team’s effort has recently led to successful performances at the Texas A&M Indoor Meet. At the RHS Coed Meet, the team placed second and Sterling won the 100 and 200-meter dashes.
“The higher you place the more points you get, and that’s how you get the team aspect of it,” Estill said.
The accumulation of points is a big factor to a team’s success, and this year the team has made gains in this area.
“The relay teams performed well, and we were well represented, especially in the 4×400 meter relay,” Guillory said.
Although the team has many strong athletes, they are still looking to improve especially in endurance and strength.
“We need to score more points in the distance runs and throws to be a complete team capable of winning District Championships,” Guillory said.
Many competitions are coming up this year which create more challenges and more opportunities for success. With District steadily approaching, the seniors want to take advantage of their last opportunity and perform to the best of their abilities.
“My biggest goal this year is to make it to State and finish in the top three,” Jones said. “I made a mistake last year at Regionals, but this year I’m prepared to finish strong.”
To enjoy this level of success, however, Jones and other athletes said they had to sacrifice some of their eating habits and adopt healthy diets for competition season.
“It’s a 110 percent commitment,” Estill said.
The typical track practice focuses on strength, drills and cardiovascular exercises, totaling up to two and a half hours a day.
“I’m currently ranked in the nation and state, but it took a lot of hard work,” Jones said. “I never thought I would ever make it to becoming ranked, but every stride counts.”
[royalslider id=”97″]