At the start of spring semester, Chamblee’s runners begin fueling up for the track and field season. Last year, the team had a successful season, with the girls team placing 2nd regionally and 4th at the state championship. Additionally, the team’s athletes earned individual achievements. Sierra Thornton (‘28) won discus throw at states and set a new school record, and Amelia DeWeese (‘25) won the county, region, and state championship for pole vault.
In order to continue the team’s success, head coaches Lakeyda Zachary and Hakim Felts have begun intense conditioning in order to shape their athletes into the best runners.
“My goal is always for my athletes to discover their greatness through consistency, effort and teamwork. I envision having multiple 800 meter, 1600 meter, and 3200 meter runners making the medal stand at the county, region, and state championships,” said Felts, the long distance coach.
Felts wants his runners to be both physically and mentally prepared for any situation at meets, and his conditioning expectations at practice reflect this.
“[I’ve been focusing on] mental preparation and ability to run successfully when the conditions, weather, or lane assignment are less than favorable,” said Felts. “In addition, [runners should be] able to run through fatigue and respond when challenged by other great runners during the course of a race.”
Practice involves runs of varying intensity as well as work outs. The coaches have gradually been increasing the difficulty, but with the first meet approaching, the more recent workouts had particularly challenged runners.
“The conditioning was easier for the first few weeks, but this week has been pretty hard. The workouts are hard. Today we’re doing ten 400 meters which is pretty intense and hard. We’re all scared, but we know our coach said that he’s doing that to prepare us for our meets,” said Makayla Huang (‘27).
Even though the workouts were difficult at that moment, runners were grateful to have coaches that motivate and believe in them.
“I think the coaches are very good. They’re pretty funny and they’re good motivators,” said Malikai Charles (‘26). “They work us hard to get us where we need to be in order to be successful.”
With the team making it to the state meet last year, many returning athletes are aiming high, and are ready to put in the work to exceed their goals.
“I want to continue to focus on track,” said Elise Taylor (‘27). “Last year, I got that hunger to go to state, and now I’m really driven to put in the work for that. I want to try again this year and just continue to work hard.”
While some students have been running since middle school, others tried out for the first time this year. Some students joined the team for many different reasons but have found a bigger purpose from the community than simply running. Many students enjoy being part of the team because of the environment that pushes them to succeed, surrounded by supportive teammates and coaches.
“I wanted to do a spring sport, and I wanted to find something that I could get good at,” said Clara Godwin (‘28). “[I’ve enjoyed] getting in shape, but I also felt like I’ve connected with a lot of people that I didn’t know before.”
With a roster of dedicated runners ready to prove themselves, Chamblee’s track and field team has high hopes for a successful season.
