The 2014 track and field team has been making history in the books, most recently for breaking school records.

The womens 4x100m team of senior Tara Johnson and juniors Shannell Thompson, Danielle Demps, and Cherelle Demps beat the previous school record set in 2000 with a time of 49.74 seconds.

“As a junior, with two years under my belt, I have a greater expectation of myself, and because of that, I mentally prepared myself to work hard. I have been eating healthy and totally changed my diet” Cherelle Demps said.

“As a team, we hope to place at state. I was so close last year. I took fifth and the top four moved on,” Demps said.

Her self-motivation has been paying off, as Demps beat the 100m school record set in 2009 with a time of 12.14 seconds after hand-time corrections were added on.

“I try to be a role model for my teammates. As an anchor for the relays, I know what to expect and
I use that experience to help my teammates,” Demps said.

“Our [womens] team has been really strong this season,” junior Jordan Raymond said, “The bulk of our athletes are juniors, which leaves us with really good prospects for next year.”

Not only have the relays been setting records, but junior Kelley Johnson broke the record for the 300m hurdles that had been set in 1995, which was one of the oldest records still standing.

The mens team has also seen success. Senior Aaron Bowe set the record for the 3200m with a time of 9:06.67, beating the record he set last year at State, along with breaking the 1600m record with a time of 4:13:74.

“We’ve had a lot of fun this year practicing hard. It is fun when you have a bunch of people working hard together,” Junior Romney Noel said.

The womens team is sending Cherelle and Danielle Demps, Shanelle Thompson, Tara Johnson, Kelley Johnson and Kelli Anderson to State, and the mens team is sending Romney Noel, Nate Solly, Ashby Brown, Nick Klatt, Andrew Baugh, and Aaron Bowe to compete at State from May 29 to May 31. This season sees the most individuals competing in recent years.