Despite finishing last in their respective events, sophomore Veronica Santamaria and freshman Haley Alvarez-Lauto both felt encouraged following their first-ever high-school track meet Feb. 23.

“I think I did pretty good. I competed in 300-meter hurdles, but I got last place,” Santamaria said. “My brother calls me the hurdle turtle. I’m probably still going to do bad in the next event, but I’m excited. I finally got to work on jumps, however I’m not competing in long jump in the upcoming meet.”

Alvarez-Lauto said she plans to be better prepared for her next race.

“I got last place in my heat for 200-meter dash, but I wasn’t expecting much,” Alvarez said. “I’m just trying to get more in shape through training as races go by.”

Many athletes placed at the Merritt Island track meet, Friday, Feb.23, and track coach, Inga Devlin believes the outcomes were good.

“I think the athletes did really well in the competitive meet,” Devlin said. “We did really well in jumping, running, and distance events, so overall the team did really well.”

By Alexis Vander