Cougar Chatter: The Road To State Track

Submitted by guest blogger, JV/Varsity Track Coach, Chris Norwood and NCS Webmaster, Debra Purcell.

The Hart-Patterson Track and Field Complex on the campus of Baylor University in Waco has been the site of the TAPPS track championships for decades. Northland track athletes continued the tradition by attending the final event being held at the stadium over this past weekend. The 2014 high school track season once again showed off the work ethic and dedication that it takes to compete in track and field. I appreciate the work and courage from the 40+ student-athletes who competed for the Cougars in high school track & field this season. Here are some of the highlights of this season:

Cameron Chavez’s season consisted of a new personal best in the shot put (44’ 11”) and qualification for the regional and state in discus.

Cameron Dickey ends his NCS career by winning the long jump at district and regional and finishing as the silver medalist in the same event at the state meet with a jump of 21’6 ½”. Cameron also qualified in 3 events for the regional meet.

Girls’ 800 relay (Gracie Leis, Alexis Pope, Carley Pope, Elle White) finished as the silver medalists in the state meet in a time of 1:46.82. This relay team was district champion and regional champion and broke the school record 4 separate times, taking over 3 seconds off the old record.

Katie Martin broke her own school record in the discus and broke the shot put school record that had been around since 1996. Katie’s personal bests are now 33’ 3 ½” in shot put and 98’ 9” in the discus throw. She was district champion in the shot put and won both events at the regional meet. Katie ended her season with a silver medal at the state track meet in the shot put.

Alexis Pope qualified in five events for the state track meet. She brought home the silver medal as a participant in the 800 relay. In addition to the school record she helped set in the relay, Alexis also set personal bests in long jump and 200 meter this season.

Carley Pope qualified in four events for the state track meet. She brought home the silver medal as a participant in the 800 relay. In addition to the school record she helped set in the relay, Carley also set personal bests in long jump and triple jump this season.

Darien Simms once again followed up a solid baseball season by participating in the triple jump. He was the district champion in that event and jumped a personal best, 43’ 2 ½” at the regional meet to advance to the state meet where he finished 4th.

At the TAPPS 4A South Regional Meet, the girls’ team finished 2nd out of 16 teams. In addition to the girls already mentioned above, Rachel Tosh contributed to the strong showing with a 5th place, personal best high jump of 4’ 8”. Elle White also scored points for the lady Cougars with a 5th place, personal best long jump of 15’ 8”.