Reality sets in after a week of paradise.

The track and field team traveled to Alabama for a meet and came back to Kentucky for a low scoring meet at Male.

On April 8, the track and field team competed at the Montgomery Academy Invitational. Seven days later, they competed at the Johnny Conn Invitational. While there weren’t many high scoring events at the Johnny Conn Invitational, the team is still hopeful for future meets.

In Alabama, the team competed very well in many events. In the girls 200-meter dash, senior Brianna Poole placed 22 out of 133 with a time of 27.99. Racing in the boys 200-meter dash, junior AJ Moss placed 22 out of 136 with a time of 24:06.

Many members placed high in the 400-meter dash. Brianna placed tenth out of 104 with a time of 1:05.28. Following right after, sophomore Emmy Ralph placed 11 out of 104 with a time of 1:05.68. Senior Connor Green placed fifth out of 129 with a time of 52.39. Moss then placed eighth out of 129 with a time of 52:81.

Senior Lauren Masden placed fourth out of 69 in the girls 800-meter run with a time of 2:27.86. Running closely behind, junior Julia Poole placed seventh out of 69 with a time of 2:34.32. In the boys800-meterr run, Green placed sixth out of 105 with a time of 2:07.99. Sophomore Josh Wetzel then placed 11 out of 105 with a time of 2:12.44 in the boys 800-meter run.

Masden then placed second out of 21 with a time of 5:31.17 in the girls 1600-meter run. Also competing in the girls 1600-meter run, Julia placed fourth out of 21 with a time of 5:49.84. Competing in the boys 1600-meter run, Wetzel placed sixth out of 71 in the boys 1600-meter run with a time of 4:56.65.

In the girls 3200-meter run, sophomore Lindsey Spencer placed fourth out of 11 with a time of 13:53.71.

“The meet in Alabama went really well. Almost the whole team, the nine of us who went, including myself ran season bests,” said Spencer.

In the girls 4×100 meter relay, Brianna, Ralph,  sophomore Allie Rae Thompson and freshman Emily McDonald placed tenth out of 25 with a time of 53.18 which is a season best for the group. Brianna, Ralph, Masden, and junior Taylor Willis placed second out of 19 with a time of 4:21.57 in the girls 4×400 meter relay. In the girls 4×800 meter relay Masden, Spencer, Julia and Thompson placed second out of nine with a time of 10:18.81.

Junior Taylor Willis placed fourth out of 19 in the girls high jump. “We had tremendous success this past Saturday in Alabama. The girls team with only eight athletes finished a fantastic fifth out of 29 teams,” said Lenny Raley, track and field coach.

However, the Johnny Conn Invitational was not their highest scoring meet. There were some events that were highly placed. In the boys 200-meter dash, Moss placed 15 out of 44 with a time of 23.84.

Green placed eighth out of 46 in the boys 400-meter dash with a time of 52.65. In the girls 400-meter dash, Brianna placed 11 out of 46 with a time of 1:04.56. Close behind, senior Claire Feldhaus placed 13 out of 46 with a time of 1:05.11.

In the girls 800-meter run, Masden placed fourth out of 39 with a time of 2:27.67. Julia placed 14 out of 39 with a time of 2:38.71 in the girls 800-meter run. Then, in the girls 1600-meter run, Masden placed fifth out of 36 with a time of 5:25.85. Wetzel placed 25 out of 59 in the boys 1600-meter run.

Eighth grader Lillie Feldhaus placed 13 out of 26 in the girls 300-meter hurdles with a time of 1:04.56.

In the girls 4×100 meter relay, Brianna, McDonald, senior Christian Foster, and freshman Emily Ezell placed ninth out of 22 with a time of 54.31. Then, in the girls 4×400 meter relay, Masden, Brianna, Willis and Ralph placed sixth out of 16 with a time of 4:25.58. After this, Feldhaus, Thompson, senior Lindsey Duvall and freshman Sarah Ezell placed sixth out of 16 with a time of 10:22.23 in the girls 4×800 meter relay.

“I think we can improve by just continuing to put in hard work at practice and competing harder. I think we’re all improving, but we just need to improve faster,” said Spencer.
There will be a track and field meet on Wednesday, April 18 at Bullitt East. At the Bullitt East All Comers, they will be competing against North Bullitt, Bullitt Central, Moore, Spencer County, Nelson County, and John Hardin.