Indoor Track Team Setting Records and Quietly Having an Outstanding Season

by Emma Bernardoni

During a school year that has seen overwhelming success in a variety of sports, Walkersville High School’s indoor track team is quietly encountering their own successes, and many of their athletes are poised for great postseason achievements.

Despite being a small team, by track standards, Walkersville has a number of standout athletes on their indoor team who have triggered a recent overhaul in school records.

At the Frederick County Championships on January 21st, senior Emma Crouch set a new school record in the 55-meter dash, and junior Autumn Parson broke her own record in the 300-meter dash.

Crouch, a standout soccer player described some of the excitement she’s had this season in her first year as a member of the track team, showcasing herself as one of the fastest sprinters in the county. “It’s been a surprise honestly,” Crouch shared when asked how it felt to achieve so much immediate success. “I knew I was fast but I always assumed track girls were faster than me.”

This past weekend at the Virginia Tech Invitational the girls 4×200 relay team broke a ten-year-old school record (senior Emma Crouch, junior Autumn Parson, senior Julia Mullen, and freshman Kasie Ogwulu). When asked about breaking the school record for the 4×200, Ogwulu described the team’s surprise after learning they had broken the record. “I didn’t even know what the record was,” she said. “We were really surprised, but we were also really excited.” Their relay team now boasts the best time in the county in their event.

Senior Kelcie Robertson also broke her own school record in the pole vault, vaulting to a new personal best of 11 ft. “It felt pretty good, and I was excited because I had been trying to PR (personal record) for a while now, and I finally did,” Robertson said when asked about her new personal best. “I was also a little disappointed though because if I would have made the next height I would have qualified for nationals too.” She will look to achieve this goal at regionals on February 4th.

Senior Collin Hess has had great personal success this year as well, holding the number one state ranking in the high jump with his personal best of 6’4. He looks to improve on his already impressive sixth place finish from last year.

The Lions will compete at regionals on February 4th, and hope to see continued success.