Lady Dons track team enters CIF undefeated, hopes for three-peat

Pictured here are some of the girls from last years successful team

Pictured here are some of the girls from last year’s successful team

Andrew Cowell, Staff Writer

With many strong seniors and with a batch of talented underclassmen, the Lady Dons track team have made history from jumps and pole vault, to hurdles and sprints. So far these talented girls have broken the Dons school record in the 4×400 meter relay (which also puts the Dons as 5th in San Diego section history), the sprint medley relay, and the shuttle hurdles.
 “All of these are team events, and it is very rewarding to see so much team work paying off. Individually, I am having a good season so far and hoping to see bigger results as CIF gets nearer,” said Stanford-bound senior Hannah Labrie Smith.
The girls recently competed in the Arcadia Invitational where they were able to break school records in the shuttle hurdles and the 4×400 relay (3:51.55). Hannah also placed 3rd in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 42.62. At the Mount Sac Invitational date in March, the relay team broke the school record in the sprint medley (4:05.81) and earlier this year at the Torrey Pines Falcon Relays, Hannah broke the school 400 meter record with a time of 56.26.
Hannah said, “On May 30th, CIF is the biggest meet coming up where we have the team goal to win our third CIF championship. After that we will head to State on June 6th. My focus will be on the 300 meter hurdles, with my personal goal to run below 41 seconds.”
The team is fortunate to have many talented girls including junior Dani Johnson who has PAC-12 offers, junior Clare Holbrock, freshman Olivia Firsching, senior Claire Chandler who is continuing her track and field career at Navy, senior Emily Fields, senior Natalie Knudsen, and senior Sarah Phillips, along with many others. Every girl on the team has scored points to help the team succeed which bodes well for the next track season.
As for Hannah, she will be competing with the top division 1 athletes in the PAC-12. “I am very excited about Stanford. I am looking forward to pushing myself academically and athletically with such amazing resources both in the classroom and on the track. The team at a Stanford is wonderful, and I am looking forward to continuing running under great coaches and with highly competitive and motivated athletes,” she said.