Starting early in the morning, and not finishing until the late evening, Wildcat track stars ran, threw and jumped their hearts out at the district competition, with seven athletes moving on to the Regional Competition at Astronaut High School on April 18.

Senior Kate Crowley, who, along with fellow athletes Sarah Day, Lexie Krehbiel and Meagan Muir, finished fourth in the 4x800m was proud of how hard she and her teammates competed.

“I was really satisfied with how well the 4x800m went,” Crowley said. “We competed really hard, especially considering that Lexie and Meagan were both injured, and Sarah was competing in so many other events.”

Unfortunately, Crowley will be unable to attend the regional competition because she is going to visit Swarthmore College, which she will attend in the fall.

Senior Joel Wadzinski, who competed in the shot put event, moved on to regionals, after placing in the top four. Wadzinski has high hopes for moving on to the state competition.

“I just want to continue to beat my personal best,” Wadzinski said. “There’s always a chance I can move on, it depends on who shows up that day.”

Junior Luke Redito, who finished fourth in both the mile and the two-mile race was nearly disqualified from the race.

“I showed up late, with about two minutes to go,” Redito said. “There was a crash on I-95, and I was almost DQ’d.”

Junior Sarah Day also advanced in the mile and two-mile, finishing second and first, respectively.

“I’ve been chasing the girl I beat for a while,” Day said. “She’s a state champion, and I wanted to be the won who proved that she can be beat.”

Redito already has a plan to win at regionals, even though it won’t be easy.

“I just need to stay with the fastest people, at the front of the pack,” he said. “If I can just hang around, I know I can push on to states.”

Wadzinski, who’s been doing the shot put since seventh grade, is finally coming to terms with the fact that his high school track career is almost over.

“I have always been a little small for the shot put, I’m a lot smaller than the linebackers who you usually see competing,” he said. “I really just want to compete to the best of my ability, and go out with a bang.”