The 2018 Track and Field season is officially over, and we talked to a few seniors about their experiences in athletics at Sahuaro. It has been an extremely successful season, and we are sad to see these seniors leave, but excited to see where their talents will take them.

Senior Gabe Raley believes that this was definitely his most successful year. His hard and meticulous training helped him reach his personal record of 50 feet in shot put and 141 feet in discus. He won a medal at all 5 invitationals and made it to state in both events.

It took plenty of hard work to get where he is, as he said, “I was challenged because I was a lot smaller than the other kids, so it took lots of weight training to catch up”. Gabe is sad to see his time with Sahuaro Track end, but is looking forward to going to the University of Arizona, where he will continue throwing and bodybuilding.

Nikita Sampson is another senior thrower. She spent most of her high school career in Oklahoma, but Sahuaro welcomed her with open arms when she transferred six months ago. She has done track for four years and believes that it has helped her to make many friends and experience new things. Her personal best in shot put is 39 feet 2 inches, and she won third in the state for this event.

Nikita says that her and her teammates are very thankful for Gabe Raley. “Gabe made me start from step one to get better. He’s both a coach and an inspiration to us.” Like Gabe, she is also considering throwing in college but is still deciding.

When Coach Rutherford was asked about this year’s track seniors, he had nothing but positive things to say. “Our strong sprinting seniors on relay were Malcolm and Eron; they were reliably hard-working for the whole year. Dorian started this year and really got into it and improved a bunch. Rebecca Green was the best female distance runner, and Eron just made everyone feel welcome. Ben Palma had the best 2 mile, his attitude is awesome. He really made running fun. I’m very proud of their great attitudes and leadership.”