By Chloe McGeehan, Managing Editor
River Hill Outdoor Track seniors raced at their home track for the last time on Monday, May 9th and Tuesday, May 10th for Howard County’s 2022 Outdoor Track Championships. The team coordinated a senior night presentation to start the postseason meet on Monday at 3:30 pm.
Sunny Jain, a River Hill sophomore outdoor track athlete, cleared the turf field and began announcing this year’s River Hill seniors. Each name was followed by the number of years they’ve participated in outdoor track, their main race events, what they will be doing next year regarding academics and athletics, and their final message to the team. Athletes received a goodie bag and a sign crafted by their underclassman teammates. Seniors proceeded to walk down the sunlit field with their parents. Eleven other teams watched this celebration take place from around the stadium. The special moment was over in thirty minutes because many had 4:30 pm races to prepare for.
Some River Hill seniors, like Jad Khleif, were not racing at the senior meet due to limited postseason entries. Nevertheless, when asked if he enjoyed the meet, Jad responded, “Of course! To be finally honored as a senior was amazing. Ever since I was a freshman I’ve seen all the seniors get their special night, thinking mine would never come. I couldn’t have asked for it to go any better.”
Jad played an instrumental role in coordinating NHS volunteers and making sure meet logistics (moving the hurdles, checking-in athletes, and holding sprinter blocks) went smoothly. Jad elaborated on his experience, sharing that “Although organizing and directing volunteers was stressful at times, being able to see my fellow seniors race at River Hill for the last time was bittersweet. To see all that we have accomplished as a class all unfold in one final meet was really nice to see, but it was also sad to know that this is it for us.”
River Hill senior Kevin McAllister added, “Counties was great! I finally broke the 40’ mark in triple jump and our 4x800m relay team put together a really solid performance against some competitive schools. I was grateful to have so many of my friends come out and support the team at home, especially since it’s not too often they get the opportunity to watch us compete on a stage like counties.”
Kevin mentioned that his experience racing at River Hill for the last time was “bittersweet for sure – knowing how much time and effort I’ve put into the sport throughout my high school career definitely made it a special moment.”
Many River Hill students and staff came to show their support over the course of the two days. River Hill’s Freshman SGA utilized the mass gathering to sell baked goods for future SGA projects. With snacks in hand, spectators sat down to watch the races.
River Hill senior Bryce Handa secured second in the mile and third in the half-mile. Bryce’s final message to the team is that “a positive attitude makes a world of a difference.”
Fellow senior and teammate Yash Porwall joined Bryce for both events. Yash placed fifteenth in the mile and fourteenth in the half-mile; his final message to the team is, “Make sure to work hard cuz the years fly by and always remember…last one fast one”.
Coach Richmond vulnerably revealed that “the Senior Meet for me represented the total culmination of commitment, hard work, and sacrifice demonstrated by this senior class to reach their final ‘home’ meet in a very demanding sport. However, they will stand out most for me also due to the perseverance and poise they maintained throughout the roughest parts of the pandemic and personal losses experienced by our team. The Senior Meet was a final salute to our brave young women and men. Certainly, this group will achieve greater accomplishments in the future and become the type of future citizens/leaders that will make us all proud.”
Ara Omitowoju, April Kiende, Tami Mumuney, Janasia Buckner, Jeff Heiges, Kevin McAllister, Bryce Handa, Lee Lowe, Elisha Sathunuru, Yash Porwall, Elijah Sathunuru, Archer Sariscak, Joshua Sargunar, Eric Rudo, and Katie Bena are some of the amazing outdoor track seniors that dedicated the past three months, and some the past four years, to working hard and representing River Hill at many athletic events. On behalf of The Current staff, we wish our 2022 outdoor track seniors the best of luck at States!