“Start unknown, finish unforgettable” is the mantra the Hobbton High School girls 4x400m relay team used this past season. Janet Thompson, Adriana Montes, India Alston and Lakelyn Bass made school history as they broke their time records multiple times and placed third at the state competition.
One of the biggest motivating factors was each other.
Thompson expressed how she feels that her teammates trust her and are confident in her abilities. “Even if I mess up, they’re still going to love me.”
Montes also recalled an instance where she was having a bad day, but her teammates rallied around her to remind her that she could do it. “I’m sometimes not as confident because my times aren’t as fast as the other girls, but they trust me so I have to trust myself too.”
This season the girls 4x400m relay team placed first at the regional championship, where they broke the school record. For Alston, it was one of the most memorable moments of her freshman season.
“We knew coming into the race that the other teams had slower times than us. We were honestly just racing against ourselves,” she said.
There is an unbreakable bond that the girls have formed over the past season. Montes believes it formed organically because they all wanted the same thing — to be the best.
Preparation is key for the girls.
“The night before states, before our relay, we sat in the hotel room and stated the goals we wanted to accomplish,” Bass recalled.
Before every meet, the team makes sure to eat a good breakfast and as soon as they step foot on the bus, they all know and understand that it’s all or nothing.
The girls reiterated how important part of their preparation was: visualizing the way they wanted to their meet to go. They wanted to run fast, strong and better than everyone else around them. They felt a need to prove that despite not having a track facility on the school’s campus to train, they can still compete against the best of the best.
“Running against big schools that are 3A or 4A I really think helped us out,” expressed Alston. “It gave us the extra push when we realized that we could not just keep up, but also beat them.”
The girls are already preparing for next season. After rising from 11th place to placing third at state, the program is optimistic about continued improvement. All of the girls were recognized as All-County athletes and are honor students at Hobbton High School.
Next season will be Thompson and Montes’ last season as they graduate in 2019. Rising sophomore Alston and rising junior Bass are looking forward to expanding the program and continuing to shatter the glass ceiling.
