Terrance Lamb getting set for the 110 m hurdle.
On June 2nd and June 3rd the Class 4 VHSL State Championships for Track and Field took place at Liberty University. The girls varsity team tied for 14th place in team score and boys varsity finished 18th in team score.
The State meet this season had a huge impact on the team, especially Isaiah Tonkollie, who ran in the boys 800 meter race.
"I can't lie, it made me feel emotional, a bunch of emotions were flowing… The environment was amazing, I was glad I was able to see that… There was just a lot of amazing performances to see, it's a whole different ball game."
"The atmosphere at States was very positive, an eye opener for the younger ones, but very good energy." said Coach Quinton Harper.
The Truckers had seven individual All-State performances with a 6th place finish from Ky'Nique Baines (100 meter dash), 7th place finish from Kingston Hall (110 meter hurdles), 5th place finish from Jahmari Savage (boys high jump), 8th place finish from Jayshaun Campbell (boys discus), 3rd place finish from Damilola Ogbeta (girls triple jump), 5th place finish from Ka'Mya Norfleet (girls shot put) 6th place. Also, the boys 4x100 meter relay finished 5th place, and the girls 4x100 meter relay finished 8th place.
Even though putting on an All-State display is a tremendous accomplishment, the team is still striving for more.
"Well I know I could've done better, but you know as my first year throwing in high school you kind of have to settle for things like that, especially if you don't practice seriously like the others do… All-State… it has a drive that pushes me to want to do better… I made All-State football player, All-State track thrower, so I'm just pushing to be even better than last year." stated Campbell.
"The job is never done, so am I happy with the amount of All-State performances we had, yes. But would like more state champions instead of all state performances." explained Coach Harper.
Some members on the team believe that the team overall could have performed better as well, like Cailem Norvell.
"Honestly I expected it to go down a lot better than what we did out there to be honest. Even though we did come in with the lowest seed in time, I know the other teams the bottom three or four teams, they had times within 10-15 seconds of us, so I definitely had faith in us that we could've PR'd today. But you know it took another route."
I saw a lot of down faces, like I saw a lot of people feel down about their event… I feel like the team we did bad overall and spiritually.” commented Campbell.
"They didn't do their best,” is all Tonkollie had to say about the team as a whole.
Despite the mixed feelings about the end result of the State meet, there were plenty of incredible achievements to look back on.
Tonkollie’s favorite moment from the State meet was Ky’Nique Baines’s All-State performance.
"I wasn't really shocked, but Kynik Banes running a 21.79… I mean that was expected but was just still unreal to see.”
Coach Harper was extremely impressed with Kingston Hall.
Kingston Hall, he's a very good athlete, but for him to make All-State in the high hurdles with his height is very impressive."
There are many high goals and expectations for the Churchland Track and Field team next season.
"Yes I'm very excited. I'm glad that a lot of kids went, and we know States is no joke like it really made regionals and districts look very small, and I'm trying to obtain a trophy for Coach Q, so before he leaves he has a trophy,” exclaimed Tonkollie.
"Yes, I'm very excited for next season. We have a very good freshman class coming in that will help the team and will have an instant impact on the team. They are accustomed to winning, so they will already have that mentality." uttered Coach Harper.
The Track and FIeld community better have their eyes out for the 2023-2024 Churchland Truckers.