Girl hurdlers show their competitive side
Ciera Mertens hurdling in her race.
April 17, 2014
The girls that participate in the hurdling event for Tracy High is getting more competitive as the season progresses.
Hurdling coach, Rachael Hermann, believes that in order to be a hurdler, an athlete has to have good technique.
“Since the hurdles are so close together, the technique has to be very specific,” Hermann said. “If the runner has good technique, the runner will have a much faster time.”
What the girls on the team who are working toward is having fewer steps in between hurdles. Herman wants three steps in between each hurdle, but the girls, so far, have a five step hurdle.
“We have women that are working towards a three step,” Hermann said. “None of them have not reached that goal yet in the meets.”
Many of the returning girls have been improving. Sophomore Melissa McDonald is the one runner that is proving to have so much potential, according to Herman.
“Melissa has been doing very well in the 100 and 300 hurdles,” Hermann said. “She is very strong and competitive when she races.”
McDonald has many goals that she wants to achieve this year.
“I really want to improve my times,” McDonald said. “I want to train harder and get faster in my races.”
McDonald’s best time was achieved in the meet against Lodi on April 3, finishing in 50.61 in the 300 hurdles. McDonald is pushed by her teammates.
Herman sees the chemistry between McDonald and senior Ciera Mertens.
“Ciera and Melissa work really well together,” Herman said. “They seem to both be leading the team by example.”
Mertens has been running hurdles for four years. Mertens believes that working with McDonald brings out the competitive side of her.
“Melissa and I bond because it is a healthy competition,” Mertens said. “We both push each other, and we have built a friendship off of it.”
McDonald also agrees that they both really work together in a positive way.
“We are on the same page because we are both similar in a way,” McDonald said. “We want to achieve the same goal to getting to a three step instead of a five, but it is a mental problem that we will both overcome in the future.”
Hermann only thinks that there are a few minor things that she wants to improve with her hurdlers.
“We just want to keep working on technique,” Hermann said.
In the girls’ long distance, junior Caitlin Spencer lowered her mile time to around 5:30 minutes. Senior Kaeli Vierra has dropped her time in the two-mile and mile race.
In the girls’ short distance, sophomore Rachael Fernandez is consistently improving in her times in a variety of many events.
The next track meet is against Franklin on April 17 on the track at Wayne Schneider Stadium.
