Three athletes on the Ridgeline Track and Field team have beaten some long-standing school records this year. The records have been in place since 2018 which makes it a very big accomplishment.

This has caused a great deal of excitement within the team as well as with many of the coaches. “We have a lot of young kids working hard and becoming very successful” Head Coach Katrina Parker mentioned in an interview. The new record breakers are Spencer Adams, beating the boys 1600 meter and 3200 meter, Nelson Munk, beating the boys javelin, and Savannah Perrett, beating the girls javelin. Coach Parker also talked about many students that are close to beating more school records, of these were Spencer Adams who is just 2 seconds off from beating the boys 800 meter, and Brynlee Brown who is 9 seconds away from beating the girls 800 meter. Coach Ethan Hansen also speculated on Spencer Adams believing he will be able to break the boys 800 meter and even improve on his 1600 meter. “A lot of these other records have been set pretty high so it will definitely be a challenge to beat them” Coach Parker added.

The era of covid has shaped this year very differently when compared to past years and has made for a very different track experience. This includes things like covid testing and mandatory masks for the members of the team. However, despite all these challenges, Coach Ethan Hansen commented “The team is doing better than previous years, we have people who are much more capable this year.”

Not only does it take hard work and dedication to even compete in Track and Field, but it takes even more to break a record. Ethan Hansen gives several steps that are needed along the way to breaking that. You first must figure out what it is you want to surpass, then see where you are at, plan how to get there, make sure to get in your workouts and lots of training, and possibly the most important step is to prepare mentally. Most people think overtaking a record is all physical, but the mental component is a key factor in it. You have to tell yourself that you can do it, if you go into that race thinking you’re not going to do very well, you’re probably not going to do well. If you use your mind to help you and not hurt you, you can accomplish great things.

Records like these are great goals to aspire to while in a challenging time like this, it uplifts the whole team and inspires them to do better, run faster, and work harder.