With track season almost coming to an end, the players have mixed feelings regarding how the season went for them. Some track players feel like they did well this season and that they are happy with what the accomplished, but others feel like they could have done better to reach their personal records (PR).  

Bayleigh Melichar has been doing track for five years now and she enjoys doing it every year. Melichar has been doing hurdles since she started, and she will be doing the same next year.

Melichar said, “track has been going pretty good for me this year.” Next year she will be working hard to beat her PR. When asked how does she feel about the track season coming to an end she said, “I’m sad because I like the people that I meet and that I run with. I also will miss the competition that comes with track.”

Merlichar added that the life lessons that she has learned from track are “nothing comes easy.”

Thomas Jacoby feels like his season has gone well, but thinks there is still room for improvement. Jacoby does track because without it he would be bored. He explained that he wouldn’t have any after-school activities otherwise. Jacoby’s life lesson from track is “anything is possible with a team pushing you.”

Robert Armour has also been performing well in track, but he is still trying to hit his personal goals. He said, “track has been going okay; I could be better. I just need to work harder so I can get better.” Armour is a multisport athlete, so part of the reason he does track is so that he stays in shape with football.

“Once track ends, I will just be getting ready for football.” He added, “I will be a little sad because I will miss my track friends.”

Armour’s life lesson that he took from track was, “always push through to the end, and always be there ready to work.”

Joseph Macaluso is the leading pole vaulter at Mead High School. He may not be very tall, but when his pole vaults, he clears 11.5 feet high jumps. Macaluso has been doing track since freshman year and will continue to do it through high school. He does track because “[he] likes the people…everyone is pretty laid back and fun to be around.”

Macaluso’s life lesson is “anything is possible with the correct hydration.”

Emma Black just started track this year and she has accomplished a good deal in a short amount of time. She is also a pole vaulter, and she also does high jumps. Black joined track because she “thought it would be fun, and a lot of [her] friends do it.”

Black is also on the swim team at MHS. When asked how she came up with what to do in track she said, “pole vaulting looked fun and I have a bunch of diver friends that do it.”

Black’s biggest accomplishment was that she beat her PR, and she also has the leading girls PR this season with clearing seven feet.

*A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Macaluso cleared 6 feet, but has been corrected to 11.5 feet.