Qualifying for the state track meet is impressive

Dear Editor:

We would like to thank the Nevada Daily Mail for their coverage of the activities, sports, and achievements of Nevada, Vernon County, and El Dorado Springs students. Showcasing these accomplishments in your paper is a positive reinforcement of the hard work and good decisions that most of our youth make.

On that note, we would like to dispel some of the negative overtones in the article in the May 25 edition of the Nevada Daily Mail detailing the preliminary round of the 3A state track meet. In that article, it was implied that the athletes did not perform or have the results that Coach Robert Watts had hoped for. It also compared the times the Nevada athletes ran to the state record, etc., rather than actually interviewing Coach Watts or comparing the times to previous performances from our season.

As coaches, what we "hope for" is for our athletes to work hard, develop the skills and techniques of the sport, and to perform at the highest level they are capable of due to that hard work, skill development and their God-given talent. We are proud of the fact that our track and field athletes do work hard. They develop an understanding of what has to be done to improve their techniques to run faster, jump further or higher, vault higher and then even higher, and throw further. AFTER their running workout, pole vault workout, or high jump workout, the sprint relay runners stay longer to do repetitive hand-offs and/or starting block work.

The girls 4 x 100 relay team of Kelsey McCall, Ashley Shumaker, Carsten Warner and Reagan Bradley WON the district championship, they WON the sectional championship, they qualified for the state meet and ran their very best time of the entire year at state -- 51.11 seconds. THAT is what we work for and hope for -- to peak and do our very best at the "playoff" time of the year. Were they disappointed? Absolutely. Were they proud of their accomplishments and ready to regroup for next year? Absolutely.

The same is true for the boys 4 x 100 and Dalton Hendren in the 200 meter dash. The boys -- Chance Mays, Ryan Ferris, Morgan Hold and Dalton Hendren -- had just broken the school record at the sectional meet with a time of 44.14 seconds. At state, their time was only slightly off that at 44.28. This was their second fastest time of the season! They wanted so badly to make it to the finals. Dalton certainly did not want to end a stellar career so very close to the 200 meter record but to see it elude him one last time.

Qualifying for the state track meet is impressive. Only 16 entries per event get that opportunity. Finishing in 10th, 12th, and 13th place might not have gotten us to the finals, but we are proud of our athletes for working hard and performing to the best of their abilities. THAT is what we hoped for.

Congratulations to all of the area athletes for a job well done.

Nevada High School Track and Field coaching staff

Robert Watts

Marsha Hooper

Eric Fast

Ryan Watts

Luke Clark