By Millie George, Staff Writer
The outdoor track season is slowing down, but River Hills runners are not. The athletes are putting up faster times than ever before, and continuing to improve through each meet.
“There is so much potential in this outdoor team, but we are still trying to recover from losing Marella to an injury,” said distance head coach Amira Schmidt. Senior record breaker Marella Virmiani suffered from a severe knee injury at the beginning of the spring season. “Losing one of our captains and best runners is tough. We are still so lucky to still have her attend some practices, and we are still looking to put up some great times the rest of the season even without her,” said Schmidt.
Many of these athletes claim that they enjoy outdoor track a lot more than indoor track. Freshman Colin Campbell said, “I like outdoor a lot more. I feel faster, and I feel like it helps me perform better in other seasons as well.”
“Campbell is a rising sophomore to be on the lookout for,” said Coach Schmidt. Campbell recently had a personal record for the boys’ 1600 race at the recent Reservoir Invitational meet, and is looking to improve his time as the season proceeds into the qualifying meets.
“I was feeling really good during the 1600. I think after the home meet on Wednesday, I was feeling a lot more locked in at a different school.” Campbell highlighted that he feels more focused at meets not hosted at River Hill. Other River Hill runners also expressed a similar perspective regarding home versus away meets.
Junior Nikita Mohan, a participant in the mile, the triple jump, and the four by four said, “Home meets are fun because a lot of people come to support, but it can be a little distracting sometimes.”
At the Reservoir Invitational track meet, Mohan ran in several events. She indicated that she “did pretty well in the mile, but I do wish I was running in the 300 hurdles.” Mohan also said that she enjoys hurdles a lot in the outdoor season. “Outdoor is a lot better than indoor. The track is 400 meters rather than 200, so it is mentally easier to run four laps versus eight laps,” said Mohan.
Coach Schmidt also expressed that she enjoys coaching outdoor events more than indoor events. “I like outdoor because I love to coach jumps, they are much more technical,” said Schmidt. She is looking forward to the upcoming meets, and especially looking for a few of her athletes to break some times.
“Freshman Ayla Sanderoff, freshman Colin Campbell, and freshman Imari Gudger have a lot of potential this season,” said Schmidt. The season is moving into the post-regular season meets where River Hill track will find competition with out of county schools.
“Im hype for counties, and hopefully qualifying for future meets after that. It will be fun to have some new competition,” said junior Chai Raghavan, a 100 and 400 meter race runner. Raghavan recently broke a personal record in the 100 meter with a time of 10.94 seconds, and is creeping up on the school record of 10.86 seconds.
“I am .08 seconds away from getting that school record, and I am really booking to best it in these upcoming meets,” said Rgahavan. Raghavan was injured last outdoor season, so coming back and breaking records would be a huge win for him. Not only is Raghvan shaving off second in the 100 meter race, he is also working on getting his 400 meter time down.
“Performing well in one event is good motivation for my other events. I am proud of the 100 meter, but I am looking forward to improving my 400 time too,” said Raghavan. He expressed that the competition at counties will be a good way to push him even harder, and hopefully break the school record.
The hawks are striving for faster time on the track as they approach post-regular season meets. “I have seen so much improvement from my athletes so far, so I can’t wait to see what they will do in upcoming meets,” said Schmidt.