Racing from Drake to State

Anafer Millsap

Natalie McAllister sr., running the fourth leg of the shuttle hurdle.

Max Luton, Writer
May 18, 2018

 Kennedy’s Track and Field teams competed in the Drake Relays from April 26 through April 28 and are preparing for the upcoming state meet.

Sophomore Jacob Green placed 20th in the 3200-meter race at the Drake Relays.

“I need to be mentally prepared by the day of the meet,” Green said. “I need to get some miles in and do some speed workouts.”

At state, Green will most likely compete in the 3200-meter race, and possibly run in the 1600-meter race and 4×800-meter race. Green wishes to become a state qualifier in multiple events and expects place higher than he did at Drake.

“Don’t get down on your own performance, even if the team is doing well,” Green said.

Senior Natalie McAllister, seeded 30th and was placed 15th in the 4×100-meter relay with a time of 50.62 seconds.

“Drake went very well,” McAllister said. “We ran hard, and the weather was nice.”

McAllister expects to qualify for the 4×100-meter relay at state, hoping to be even faster than at Drake. Along with that, she hopes to qualify for the shuttle hurdle relay.

“I need to practice my handoffs and endurance, and make pauses shorter,” McAllister said.

Brian White Jr., sr., placed second at Drake for the shuttle hurdle relay.

“I have higher expectations for state,” White said. “I want to be state champion, I expect to win it all, but I need to improve by becoming quicker.”

White had a good experience, but only ran in one race at the Drake Relays.

“I’ve learned to never take anything for granted,” White said. “Just having the best time does not mean being the best.”

Sarah Nolting, sr., competed as an alternate for the 4×100-meter relay.

“It was really fun, we got to bond as a team,” Nolting said.

Nolting plans to compete in the shuttle hurdle relay and possibly in the 100-meter portion of the sprint medley relay at State.

“I think we’ll do fairly well,” Nolting said, “I’ve learned to push myself.”

Men’s track coach Curtis Pakkabier has been working with Track & Field at Kennedy for 19 years and started when he was eight years old.

“I expect Kennedy students to break their personal records in every event and show improvements,” Pakkabier said. “Drake went fantastic, it was one of our best times there I can remember.”