POW! Goes the starter pistol and they are off their blocks and the hurdles jumping over their hurdles. “The season has just started and the runners are off to a great start” said Kayla Booker. The girls track team is trying to go back to state and win it all.

The track team is comprised of about 24 girls.Senior Kayla Booker being one of them. Booker has run track all four years at South. She has placed second in a few 200 Meter races and third in a couple of 100 Meter races.

“Staying determined and trusting the coach and staying mentally focused has helped me with my success on the track team,” said Booker. Booker is regarded as one of the fastest on the team according to other teammates.

“I love track because it’s an individual sport but there is still a team and you can always tell your progress and there is always another race” she said.

There are medals in track but are hard to accomplish. You must place in the top three of the whole meet to get one. This season Booker is determined to get one.

“Everybody is in the family. There really isn’t a leader on the team, everybody helps everybody,” said junior Aiyanna Morgan.

Morgan has been on the team for two years now. She runs the 100, 200 meters and occasionally the long jump. When asked what her favorite event was she said “ the 200 meter because it’s a short race but gives me more time to accelerate over the 100.”

Practice is very important to be successful on the team” said Head Coach Franklin. The team has had a great turn around since Franklin became coach and a few of the girls on the team were selected to run at the state competition.

“Coach always knows what you should run or partake in. I trust him because he has gotten me this far,” said Morgan.

“I like track because it gets my mind off of stuff and it’s a big relief of stress from school to just go out and run,” said senior Hanan Muhammad.

She runs the 4×100, 4×200, 4×400, open 200 and sometimes the open 400 meter races. She said her favorite is the 4×400 because it’s the last race and everyone is crowded around cheering.

I takes a lot to go out and run in 80 degree weather every day after school said Booker but the experience is something you’ll never have anywhere else.
The team has meets everywhere Saturday. It’s not just running that you’ll have to see. The next meet is scheduled for the morning of May 13th.