Cooper Wins States; Others Place at Regionals and States

By Ethan Ellis--- Eagle Staff Writer

Kylie Cooper (11), Addie Shorter (11), Julianne Bowman (9), and Harper Dillon (12) await their events at the regional meet. (Courtesy Photo)

After much uncertainty on whether or not the season would actually happen, the indoor track season has come to a close.

Last Sunday, select athletes from the Eagles team traveled to Virginia Beach to compete in the regional tournament. But like most things this year, Covid still played a large role in how the meet worked.

“One of the teams was not able to compete [and] fans were not allowed,” Indoor Track coach Chris Renick explained.

For the second year in a row, there was no district meet, so athletes had to go from the regular season straight into the regional meet. This was, however, an upgrade from last year, when the indoor track season was cut short due to the Covid outbreak in March.

“I have been training since freshman year to be able to do my best and perform well at regionals. I train six days a week averaging 40-50 miles a week,” Addison Shorter, junior, stated.

This year, track athletes were forced to train for regionals out in the weather instead of inside like they usually do because of the pandemic.

While running is important in training for regionals, so is having a healthy diet.

“I just try to stay away from snack foods like chips and soda, stuff like that. I also ate a lot of fruits and vegetables,” sophomore Nathan Atchue recalled.

Atchue was one of the few athletes to attend this year's regionals. Due to the pandemic, only the top 12 athletes per event, instead of entire teams, were allowed to travel and compete in the meet.

Bryson Chrisman (12) participates in the Shot Put at the Regional meet.

Some Eagle athletes that placed at the regionals meet include Kylie Cooper who won the 1600 meter run and finished second in the 1000 meter run, Shorter who finished first in the 3200 meter run and set a new school record in the event, Atchue who finished third in the 3200 meter run, and Bryson Chrisman who finished second in the Shot Put.

“Overall I was just excited for these young men and women being able to compete and see a little normalcy,” Renick concluded.

These athletes then went on to compete at the State meet. In the meet, Cooper became the state champion in the 1600 meter run with a time of 5:07. Shorter placed 6th in the 3200 meter run with a time of 11:36. Atchue placed third in the 3200 meter run with a time of 9:37 and Chrisman placed 6th in shot put with a throw of 43 feet.