On Jan. 7, the RCHS Indoor Track team participated in the East Coast Elite track meet. This meet, which has been happening for two years, included 200 high schools with over 1800 kids in attendance.

Many runners from the RCHS track team ran new personal records (PR). Junior Deena Ludtke qualified for regions in the girls’ 1600 meters and broke her PR. 

“I was actually surprised because I was not going for a qualifying time or trying to break my PR but it was a happy surprise, ” said Ludtke. “I also learned that I am now only three seconds from state qualification.”

Senior Grace Rolon began the season with a 5:58 in the girls 1600 meters. She then broke it at Liberty University with a 5:52. Rolon then broke this PR at the East Coast Elite with a 5:47. 

“I made sure to keep running over break to stay in shape. I ran six days a week, also making sure to mix the workouts with speed, recovery, and long-distance,” Rolon said.

Senior Andrew Brannon broke his PR in the boys 4×800 meter relay. Brannon’s original PR in the relay was 3:01. After Jan. 7 the 4×800 had a new PR of 3:00

“I worked towards finding a consistent pace, so that I can eventually run substantially faster. I also am training to focus on breathing so I can push myself even further,” said Brannon. 

Junior Deborah Fashida runs in the girls 55 meter. Her new PR is 8.29 seconds, she broke this PR with 8.28 seconds.

“I only focused more on stretching and hard workouts,” said Fashida. 

Lastly, Sophomore Melissa Mejia ran in the girls 55 meter. Her original PR before Jan. 7 was 9.7 seconds. She then broke this PR with a 0.5 second improvement. Her final PR came to be 9.2 seconds. Mejia shares her way to break her PR. 

“I make sure to work on speed, mental mindset, and stay healthy. It makes a huge difference if you stay in a mental mindset and focus on yourself,” said Meija.

The Indoor Track ‘Cats are set to have two more track meets. The next one is on Jan. 21 at Virginia Military Institute. The following one is on Jan. 28 at Liberty University. For more information on the Indoor Track team, visit https://rockbridgeathletics.com.