On May 3, Pattonville High School’s Girls’ Track attended The All-Suburban Red Conference, placing first for the third year in a row, qualifying for districts on May 14, placing 4th in District 3.

Assistant coach Ms. Hall explained the preparation before and during the meet. “The girls on our track team have a universal understanding that individual progression is just as important as teamwork,” she said. “Before meets, all runners write out their goals for each race.”

During most meets, runners have two to three hours between each event. However, All Suburban Red was much different. The meet ran so quickly that each runner had at most 30 minutes of rest time between each race. “I was extremely impressed with how the girls on our team adapted to the time change,” Hall said.

A’lajia Bradley set a school record earlier in the year by running the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.90 seconds. “I’ve reached my overall goal, but I work hard outside of practice so I can keep progressing,” Bradley said.

Keeping her spot on the leaderboard, Bradley placed first in both the 400, 200, and 100-meter dash, along with Camryn Hubbard who placed first in the 800-meter dash with a time of 2:16.79.

Senior Kalista Roades was unable to attend the meet due to an injury. “In the middle of the season, I had a back injury that kept me from practicing and competing fully, and modifying workouts made it hard to really improve,” she said.

Although she did not have the ideal season, she found many ways to cope with both mental and physical pressure. “For mental pressure, I do my best to stay positive,” she said. “Sometimes that means affirmations, upbeat music, or staying away from people that’ll complain/speak negatively. For physical pressure, I take my downtime to sit, stretch, and stay hydrated.”

After qualifying for sectionals, the team competed on May 23 after a rain delay that pushed the sectional to Monday, and placed 5th overall in Mexico, Missouri.