After finishing 2nd in the girls 4×200 and 3rd in the girls 4×100 at the regional meet, seniors Jada Williams, Sydney Smoak, Sydney Bishop, Cori Ross, and Junior Ivana Odonkor will set their sights on the state meet.

After having to watch the boys compete from home last year, the girls had some extra motivation for this year.

“I think after seeing the boys win the whole thing, we were just like, okay, we’ve got to step it up, and then it just gave us more motivation to work harder,” Williams said.

“It’s really satisfying to finish what we started last year at regionals and just really live up to our best potential,” Bishop said. “We all knew that we could make it to state, and the fact that we have made it to state is just really refreshing. We know there’s still work to be done, and we can’t be satisfied yet because we still have races to run and we still need to leave our mark in Austin.”

With most of the girls being seniors, the relay team will look to finish out their careers strong.

“Well, for one, it’s the last time I’m running under my coaches,” Williams said. “My coaches are like just the biggest influence with the whole thing. The last time running with the people I see every day, it’s kind of sad, but I get to go out there one last time and just show them what we’ve got.”

The team has high hopes for the meet, looking for a podium finish.

“Realistically, for the four by two we’re sitting second in the state, so I see ourselves getting second place,” senior Cori Ross said. “Every time we run against Lancaster. You know, we’re always right behind them, but never quite like next to them. So, I do see us modeling just specifically in that race. Also in the four by one, most likely third or second as well.”

“We didn’t make it last year and we were very disappointed about that. So this year would be like a very good accomplishment, especially because most of our relay team are all seniors,” Odonkor said.