Johnson HS relay team heads to state

BUDA — The Lady Johnson Jaguars 4x2 relay team is headed to state for the second consecutive year, but this time comes a new set of challenges. This is the team’s first year competing as a 6A school.

“As a 5A, we sort of ran against the same six to eight schools who [we] ran against this year. So, we sort of knew that it would be somewhat the same competition,” senior relay team member Elektra Sanchez said.

As the team’s coach, Ashley Laughlin made sure the relay team knew what it was getting into before starting to compete in the 6A competition.

“When you look at the Texas Relays, which is one of the largest meets in the country, and the people who are always in the final of everything are your six to eight schools, they're traditionally the same ones,” Laughlin said.

Going into the track season this year, the relay team consisted of a returning group of seniors: Sydney Silas, Sanchez, Sidney Kinnison and Sophia Olivarez. Before the team was able to compete in regionals, Olivarez was injured and sophomore Isabelle Castillo stepped up to fill in for her.

“There's nothing more you want when you're a senior than to go out on the best note and for this [injury] to happen so late in the game,” Laughlin said. “I want to give Sofia a lot of credit because she's really been a positive encourager and a motivator; she still is like the team mom to this group. And she's really done a phenomenal job with [her replacement] Isabelle Castillo and mentoring her and making sure that she feels comfortable.”

Since a few members of this group have been running together since they were freshmen, they have formed a solid bond over the years.

“We've grown; we've definitely bonded a lot,” Silas said. “We've grown individually — especially our individual goals, as far as going to college and getting better times. We stuck together and we really keep each other focused. We support each other.”

“I would say especially for this group, particularly, they've always been very goal driven and goal-oriented. And that's one thing that's never been lacking in this group,” Laughlin said. “These ladies have always had a vision, what they want to be, and goal setters. Senioritis has never been a question. I think strength-wise, they've gotten a lot stronger and matured. And they're ready for the collegiate level.”

For the three seniors, the state meet will be the last run they compete in as a team, but many of them have plans to run track in college. Sanchez will be running track for the United States Naval Academy, while Kinnison will be running track for Oklahoma University and Silas is still searching for opportunities.

“It's been incredible to have this group of girls to truly lead by example for this program and moving forward,” Laughlin said. “So, I really want to thank them for their commitment and showing the next group of kids that this is what this program is about and the direction that we're going.”