This spring track season has been strong for BHS. The school records in the women’s 4×200 and 4×100 have been broken three times this season by the women’s varsity team. With these high accomplishments, multiple women qualified and attended the state-wide meet at East Kentwood High School. Juniors Nicole DeCoster, Blessing Nweke, Lece Shoulders, and sophomore Sarah Lofton qualified in the 4×100-meter relay. DeCoster also individually qualified in both the 100-meter and the 200-meter dashes. In a distance race, freshman Paige Rohda qualified for the 3200-meter run. Entering into a huge meet like this is nerve-wracking, but the afterthoughts that follow these significant events can be just as insightful.

Preparing for the state’s race on May 31 has changed the dynamic of track practices. Lofton comments, “Coach Hale has designed the practices for states to be harder and training to make us even faster.” This includes baton handoff practice and even an exercise where the relay group has to chase each other down. She hopes that all this hard practice will produce faster results and possibly break their record again. Lofton says one of the highlights of this season is how close their relay team got. Lofton explains, “We’ve always been cool, I even ran with them in middle school. We’ve all grown together as a team and as friends.” All of them agreed that their favorite relay memory was breaking the school records.
After the state meet, I followed up with all the state qualifiers. Lofton reflects by saying, “All of our times improved at States, and with that, we broke the 4×100 record again for the 3rd time.” She continues to share, “My worries of baton handoffs going into the meet were high, but during the race they were perfect.” She shares that the experience of being there in the moment with people who have continued to encourage her through the whole season was surreal. Lofton gives appreciation to her track coaches and her parents, specifically her father, for always encouraging her along the way.
DeCoster shares that her goal is to set a new personal record in her open relays as well as in the relay team at states. DeCoster’s main goal, ultimately, is to have fun with her team and possibly attend nationals. All four of them share that overall, just having the experience of being at states is an excitement within itself.
Talking to DeCoster after States brought a new perspective to her initial aim. DeCoster shares, “I didn’t qualify for nationals, but this gives me a future goal for next year.” DeCoster was the only sprinter in her relay who had an open event, which is a single-division event outside of a relay team. Though she didn’t qualify for nationals, she shares, “We broke our 4×100 record again, and finding that out was the best memory from the whole trip.” The relay placed 19th overall in their relay and represented BHS highly the whole time.
Last season, Shoulders explained that she had a devastating leg injury last track season that she thought she would never recover from. Shoulders comments, “I didn’t expect for me to go to states this year. I didn’t even want to run the relay, but I didn’t want to let them down.”
After states, Shoulders was along with her relay, just as proud of them making it to states, and also breaking the women’s 4×100 record once again. Shoulders said that before she ran, “I was super nervous, and my stomach was hurting.” Even though she had a lot of nerves, she explains that “Being at the hotel with friends, eating team dinners, and running was so much fun.” Shoulders spoke once again about her “comeback season” mentality from last season by saying, “ I never expected myself to make it to the states or even get to this point.”
Nweke shares that her favorite memory from this season was finding out that they qualified for States. She comments, “I ran to Lece when I found out, and we were running and screaming.” Nweke shares that she hasn’t been that proud of herself this season and hopes that racing at States will redeem her. “I continued to get slower and slower throughout the season, which was hard. I’m using that as motivation for me to give it my all at States in hopes of dropping time.”
After the meet, Nweke shared the same excitement as her teammates. The team dynamic, especially being together at the hotel, was one of her best memories. Being able to bond through a sport, celebrate each other’s accomplishments both individually and collectively, and push one another represented this season’s dynamic for Nweke. Nweke accomplished her goal of dropping time and overall loved the season.
The one long-distance qualifier, Rohda, reflected on her season by saying, “My ultimate goal for this season was to qualify for States, and achieving that goal at regionals was awesome.” Rohda is also part of the Berkley Cross Country team, and although she didn’t qualify for Cross Country States due to an injury, she felt that making it to states in track was even more special. Rohda shares, “It is pretty awesome knowing I qualified as a freshman. This is a very special opportunity that not many people get to experience, so being a freshman and being able to attend is even cooler.”
After States, Rohda saw the race as a learning experience. Though the race didn’t go how she had hoped, she enjoyed the experience and seeing so many fast women racing against each other. She comments, “It was cool getting to be around a bunch of people who are all so talented and the top in the state.” Rohda’s goals moving forward are “to make it to states in cross country and hopefully make it again for track, and overall improving times.”
This season is represented by these five women and their accomplishments. As they went into the state competition, they were filled with excitement, nervousness, and overall pride in themselves and BHS. Completing the season with new personal records from the State meet and newfound goals in pursuit of continuing to get faster has been the outcome of this season. Along with many good memories and a stronger connection between each other, this season has most definitely been a success.