At a recent track meet on March 10, Downey High took first place in most of the races and events at the Allen Layne Stadium at 4 pm. The meet was kicked off with a 4×1 relay race, where sophomore Kristin Johnson took the lead, putting DHS in first place from the beginning. Jasmine Johnson finished the race strong, despite suffering minor back injuries.
“Track is like a mental sport,” sophomore Kristin Johnson said. “If you tell yourself you’re not going to do well, then you won’t perform as well as you want to. You can’t get distracted by anything.”
Throughout the meet, Downey took first place in many races, mostly because Calvary Chapel and Bell Gardens did not have any varsity runners to compete against Downey’s varsity runners. The Vikes claimed first place in many events, earning them first place overall.
The Irvine Invitational was invite only and resulted with Downey sending most varsity and frosh-soph to compete and bring home medals. Overall, Downey won this meet as well, and frosh-soph was runner up for first place.
The Downey Relays were held on Sat., March 5, as a fundraiser to help JV get the feel of an actual meet, so it was mostly practice for varsity. Most of JV members were running the snack shack, while experienced varsity runners got used to their new relay teams.
“Downey Relays is fun!” junior Jasmine Johnson said. “It’s a chance to show was we can do. It’s a trial run. We get to know our relay teams, and it’s great bonding time.”
The track squad has been very successful and will most likely move on to league tournaments in June, once again proving they are a one-of-a-kind team.
