Central Holmes girls track coach Nikki Edwards is still hoping her team gets to run this season.
The Lady Trojans dominated the Class AA track and field meet last year and were getting primed for another run at a state championship this season.
“We had not run a meet yet, but are still hoping we are going to run,” Edwards said. “The first meet we were supposed to run got rained out and then we were supposed to run one when we got back from spring break. I have sent them messages to be running in case we do come back. I’m sure some of them are running on their own.”
After winning last year’s state meet and beating second-place Glenbrook by more than 90 points, Edwards thought her team was in a good position to repeat.
“I thought we were going to have a good shot at it,” Edwards said. “We lost four seniors off of last year’s team but were also returning some good underclassmen. To win, you have to max out in as many events as possible. That’s like, I always try to have a couple of pole vaulters. I try to start one in the seventh grade and get them interested in it. I’ve got a seventh grader this year who is going to pole vaulting camp in Arkansas.”
The Lady Trojans have three seniors on this year’s squad. Senior Christyn Allen is the defending champion there. Senior Morgan Bigbee was third in the discus last year while senior Keirra Smith will do the shot put.
Also coming back for the Lady Trojans is junior distance runner Breann Bell, who won three individual titles last year, in the 800-meter dash, the 1,600-meter dash and the 3,200-meter dash. The wins last year gave Bell 12 individual state championships. She also won the girls cross country state championship this fall.
“Breann has been a really strong runner for us and she has continued to work really hard,” Edwards said. “She’s one of those kids who is going to run whether we are in school or not. She has gotten some interest from college and one that could go somewhere.”
Other junior girls returning are Lindsey Turner and Cameron Martin. Turner does the hurdles, relays and the triple jump. Last year, Turner won the 100-meter hurdles and was on the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relay teams that finished first. Also coming back is junior Cameron Martin, who does the hurdles, relays and triple jump and Hayley Haffey who is a sprinter.
“We moved classes this year and I looked at who we would compete with and thought we had a good shot at it,” Edwards said. “Who knows whether we will be able to run or not this year. I hope we get back in school and are able to finish out the season. But I figure with the public schools being out until the 17th, we are probably out that long as well. But we are making that decision one week at a time.”
