2025 Season

This season felt like such a jump from 2024.

We had a ton of new athletes, yet we had a lot more experience thanks to a summer of Mustangs and Summer Endurance plus a fall/winter of Flag Football, XC, and Mustangs to help provide growth opportunities.

The mix of new and veteran allowed us to do some pretty special things! This season included: 

• Winning the Highland Park Invite (via rocks-paper-scissors!)
• Experiencing the new indoor Kankakee Invite and taking 3rd!
• Enjoying the banked track at Gately and competing with some impressive teams at the Kenwood Relays
• Missing Springfield due to stupid weather
• Hosting the First Annual Senior Relays & Senior Night
• Making some waves at Kankakee Invite outdoors (2nd place and a GIANT trophy)
• Winning the Antioch Invite
• Lauren earning a spot at Distance Night in Palatine, complete with a new PR
• Taking 2nd at Lake County Invite
• Taking 3rd at Conference
• TONS of PRs at Lake Forest's Un-Relays Invite
• Taking 3rd at Sectionals and breaking THREE school records:
  • ​4X100
  • 4X200
  • 4X400
• Sending a busload of peeps to State (in new pink uniforms!) 
  • ​Lauren Hamilton--1600
  • Ximena Gonzalez--Shot put
  • Victoria Hunter--100 & 300 hurdles
  • 4X100--Auriel Harvey, Janiyah Waters, Taliyah Ramos, Leah Gray-Matthews
  • 4X200--Auriel Harvey, Janiyah Waters, Taliyah Ramos, Leah Gray-Matthews
  • 4X400--Leah Gray Matthews, Taliyah Ramos, Auriel Harvey, Victoria Hunter
• Hosting First annual co-ed BBQ/Potluck & Awards

It felt like a whirlwind! There were so many moments to enjoy, but watching the State Meet helped me see what we need to think about to make next year another year of growth. When watching the finals, I was struck by Prospect's team. They placed 3rd overall, and they have consistently earned trophies over the last few years. What makes them different than us? I could do a whole sociological study, but what I saw was this: They care deeply about each other and they support each other with sincerity. Prior to each race, as I watched their relays and individuals run out onto the track, they always headed toward the 40 yard line  spot on the bleachers. They looked up to the stands that were packed with powder blue fans pouring love into them. Then the relays would circle up, linking hands, and offer each other what I can only imagine were words of encouragement. I watched their body language, though, and I could see that they genuinely leaned on one another. Individual races provided the same scene--two girls looking to the fans and coaches and teammates, then holding each other, looking in each other's eyes, and then smiling and heading to the starting line. This may seem like a small thing, but it worked...over and over again. Girls ran beyond their abilities. Girls dug in and found a kick that didn't seem possible only meters before. They found courage in their track & field family...on the track, in the stands, in the field, and from generations past. They wanted to well for each other, and so they took risks and stepped into the challenge of the day. They turned stress into challenge. They turned competition into a push. They turned their track & field family into fuel. It was beautiful to watch.

I want that for us. I want us to learn to care deeply for each other:  teammates, coaches, fans, alums, and future members. I want us to lean into each other's greatness and strength. I want us to learn to be vulnerable enough to admit when we need help and caring enough to lift each other in those moments. I want us to be the empowered women who empower each other. 

​Consider that my challenge for the summer, fall, and next track season.