After hurdling through erratic weather and intense workouts, the EHS girls track and field team’s work paid off on March 11 when a selection of high-performing players participated in the Eastern Illinois University meet.

Senior Savannah Maloney started the meet off strong, managing to throw a huge PR of 36’1.5 in shot put on her first throw of the day.

“Right after I threw I thought to myself ‘ok, good start, hopefully that’s in the 34’ range,’” Maloney said. “When I actually looked at the distance, I couldn’t believe it was almost two feet further.”

She finished the event in eighth place, ready for another competition.

Breaking away from the pack, the 4×800 team (junior Melissa Spencer, senior Victoria Vegher, junior Haley Allard and sophomore Tiana Washington) placed first with a time of 10:13.41–a whopping seven seconds ahead of the second place team.

The 1600 was stacked with underclassmen, with freshman Abby Korak scoring first and sophomore Abby Schrobilgen right behind her in fourth place. The two had times of 5:20.85 and 5:29.63, respectively.

New to the indoor track season, Korak has had to learn the tips and tricks of the trade quickly. Distance running can be especially tricky because of the dry air, crowded lanes and unusual track shapes indoor gyms offer.

“1600s seem so much longer on an indoor track because you have to run twice the number of laps,” Korak said, “I thought it would be a difficult adjustment, but eight laps later, I was surprised I kept in the lead.”

With an overall victory of second place, the future seems bright for the lady tigers who hope for a successful indoor and outdoor season. Still, the work isn’t over yet and since state is just over 60 days away, the team is determined to make every practice matter.

“I haven’t felt more inspired my teammates in a long time,” said Senior Julianna Determan who placed seventh in the 800 with a PR of 2:35.61. “If we keep working this hard—and I know we will—we’ll be breaking some big records soon, just you wait.”