Overview:

The 2023 AMHS Boy’s Track & Field team ran, jumped, and threw their way into many medals and podiums this season. Being able to fill out the roster this season with competitive runners and field participants alike, allowed the team to be much more competitive in the team standings at meets. The throwers lifted and conditioned hard for some great meet results including many personal bests.

The distance runners were unstoppable in the 4x800m, 1600m, and 3200m under the guidance of Coach Johnson. While the sprinters got off to a rocky start, in the end they worked on relay technique to lay down some great times. This season definitely feels to be the start of bigger things to come. With the roster growing so large, it really gave the sense that a competitive program is being built within the culture of the team and will continue to strengthen over the years.

Distance:

The future of this season and for seasons to come is very bright for the distance track team. The 4x800m team consisting of Justin Womble (12), CJ Geiger (9), Brayden Bunt (9), & Ben Fancher (12, SOA) has set the lead time in the region so far. They should be able to cruise to victory at the region meet and be very competitive for the podium at state. Geiger has also been very solid in the 400m, seemingly thriving in the middle distance events. In the 1600m, Colin George (11), Calvin Volkmann (10) and Quinn Swanton (10) laid down fantastic times in the early part of the season, situating them well for spots in the 2A State Meet.

Brayden Bunt (9) finds his motivation to continue racing hard throughout the season from his favorite movie, Cars. He finds this motivation in the famous words,

The Sophomore duo of Peyton Johnson and Hunter Kuhnell have both set great PRs in the 320om and should have the ticket easily punched to the 2A State Meet along with Swanton or Volkmann. Zuriel Nyamutsaka (9) has taken multiple heat wins in both the 400m and 800m, while Everett Landrith (10) has made strong performances in the 800m and has also been a robust contributor to the 4x800m. William Sandler (9) and myself, Noah Boudolf (12), have been holding it down in the 4x800m team and in the 1600m.

Coach Brian Johnson has been very pleased with the distance runners which he mainly coaches stating that, “[t]he process is working, keep up the great work and attitudes!” It certainly is as the Raptors have seen great improvements all around. This includes new school records in the Distance Medley Relay and advancing runners into the Coaches Classic Elite Meet, with runners across all classifications from all over South Carolina. Runners also took medals in a few events at the recent Cane Bay Classic.

Sprints:

The sprint team had a tough run to begin the season. Some issues with the hand off in the 4x100m relay caused the team to not be able to lay down their best representative time early in the season, but since, many of the kinks have been worked out. Grayson Gregg (12) also currently holds the lead region time for this season in the 200m with a 23.8.

Coach Crisculo has been very pleased with his sprinters’ progressions so far over the course of the season. As the Raptors look forward to some of the more competitive meets and the postseason, he constantly pushes positive reinforcement to encourage his runners.

Donovan Hamilton has also been very solid in the 110m and 400m hurdles, seeing significant improvement since the start of the season. Ian Smith (10) has been very solid in the 200m along with Xander D’arcy (11).

Throwing/Field:

One key part of the team this year has been bulking up throwing and field parts of the team. Based on the team scoring system where a top-8 finish in each event earns points for the team score, having the added manpower to earn more team points has significantly helped the team results so far. A huge part of this has been Jackson Millet (11) in the pole vault. This season, Millet has set both the school record and currently leads all of 2A for the year with a height of 14 feet 6 in. The javelin throwers have also been a force to be reckoned with this season. Jack Quinn (12) leads the region at this point with a distance of over 133ft.

In the 12lb shot put, Milo Tipanaro Troop (10) holds the top distance on the team this far with a distance of 28ft 8in. Charles Cramer (11), has also been solid in the shot in addition to discus, holding the top school distance this season and is 2nd in school history with a distance of 95ft 10in.

Coach Hooffstetter has been very impressed by the performances so far and the leadership roles that some of the athletes have taken on for the team. From keeping everyone accountable by encouraging them to regularly attend practice and the support they show for their teammates at races, it has certainly helped to improve the team culture. She says,

Season Outlook:

The Raptors have a few major meet remaining before they look on to the postseason, hoping to capture some individual and team honors. These include, the CCSD Championships, the Tri-County Meet of Champions, and the Region 7 2A Meet.Runners and relay teams that are able to place high enough at the region meet will move on to the Lower State meet and potentially the 2A State Meet, if they can perform well enough on the big stage. Right now it looks as if the Raptors can be competitive at the region meet, hoping to capture their first region title in a few years, by taking it back from Bishop England. Regardless, this large team will continue to grow in size and ability over the coming seasons.