Feature Photo By: Izzy Honey – Sophomore Mahayla Griggs runs on the Rangeview track during practice. Griggs is one of the new girls on the track team.
With the addition of the new head track coach, Chris Carhatt, Rangeview has had three different coaches since the 2015 season. Carhartt, who previously coached at Hinkley for 12 years, and built a strong reputation many say, plans to keep it going by building Rangeview’s team into a powerhouse.
Carhartt says, “At Hinkley, we took third place in state the past two years, eight state championships, seven league MVPs, 27 school records, and 29 of the athletes I coached ran in college.”
As a result of these accomplishments, it’s been easy for this year’s participants to fall in line with his plans for the team.
Senior captain Sophia Bambury says, “I’m super excited for this season because of the new coach; he’s been talking about switching up the culture and it’s going to be very fun.”
For Carhartt, changing the culture is important so he can make the type of winning environment that he built at Hinkley. To most, what Carhartt wants to do becomes obvious because of his efforts to get more kids on the team.
Carhartt says, “I just want to get as many kids out as possible and maximize their potential to work towards winning league championships every year.”
As far as talent goes, the team still has a good core returning from last year in runners like Jayvion Swain, who qualified for state in the 4×100 meter for the boys, and Dawnielle Lewis, who qualified in the 100 meter for the girls. Although the team has lost high performers such as Dominique Perry, who was the team’s best hurdler from last year, and Chance Walker who was a past qualifier for state as a part of the relays and long jump, this year has been unique compared to others due to the mix of athletes from different sports.
This year, many of the varsity basketball players at Rangeview are making the transition from the court to the field for track while still having the mix of football players as well.
One of the basketball players, senior Eric Jackson says, “I think track will be fun for me because it’s something new and it will help me stay in shape.”
Last year, the team’s best performance was in the EMAC championship where they placed second of 11 behind Carhartt’s Hinkley team. Most believe it’s Rangeview’s turn to rule the EMAC with the leadership of Carhartt who previously ruled it at Hinkley.
The first track meet will be this Friday at Ralston Valley beginning at 1:00 p.m.
To view the whole schedule click here.
