Despite battling strong winds throughout the evening, the 7th- and 8th-grade girls track team continued to show growth and determination Tuesday night at the Newell-Fonda Invitational, finishing sixth overall while recording an impressive 15 personal records.

The girls opened the meet with their strongest performance of the season in the 4x800-meter relay. The team of Adelle Fors, Averie Kitchen, Jaylie Slinker, and Sofie Fritts raced to a third-place finish while setting a new personal record with a time of 11:51.59. Their strong start set the tone for a night full of personal bests.

Leading the way once again was Taylor Carlson, who continued her outstanding season by breaking her own school record in the 800-meter run by an incredible six seconds. Carlson crossed the finish line in 2:40.97, further cementing her place in the program record books. She also turned in another strong performance in the 400-meter dash, earning third place against a competitive field.

Another relay squad continued the momentum later in the evening as the 4x400-meter relay team of Adelle Fors, Aubree Richardson, Anna Slinker, and Kensley Cox powered their way to a new PR in 5:03.26.

The throwing events also saw major improvements. Reagan Cramer delivered a huge personal best in the shot put with a throw of 25-09.75, while Lilah Simon added another PR with a throw of 24-05.50. Ava Richman recorded a personal-best leap of 10-07.50 in the long jump to round out the field event PRs.

The sprint group continued to make strides as well, highlighted by four personal-record performances in the 100-meter dash. Tana Harrison clocked a PR of 14.22, while Adley finished in 15.10, Lydia recorded a 15.87, and Nalayna crossed in 16.42. Harrison also ran the open 200, running a personal best of 30.01. Hurdlers Claire Peterson and Kelsey Hayes also brought home two PRs each. Hayes ran the 100-meter hurdles in 18.17, and the 200-meter time was 34.43. Peterson clocked her 100-meter hurdle time at 18.93 and 32.43 in the 200-meter hurdles.  

Although the standings placed the girls sixth overall, the team’s improvement throughout the season has been impossible to ignore. "My favorite part about track is my growth in running. Every time I get an individual PR or a PR as a group, that shows how much I have grown, or how much we have grown as a group," said 4x800 and sprint-medley runner, Sofie Fritts. With athletes continuing to push one another and gain confidence each week, the future of the program remains bright. “I'm grateful that I even joined the team in the first place,” states eighth-grader Adelle Fors. “Joining was way out of my comfort zone, but I have seen myself grow speed-wise and in confidence.” 

The girls will wrap up their season Friday at the conference meet in Lake City, where they hope to finish the year with performances filled with smiles, pride, and confidence as they continue building the foundation for future success.