After working hard for a short few months our newly formed unified track team came home as the first-ever state champs for Unified Track. Even though the team had a challenging beginning not knowing what was ahead of them, they were able to overcome. Coach Schenck said, “We went from wondering if we were even going to have a team, to becoming state champs.”

For some of the athletes, this was their first time to be able to compete at a high level and learn what it means to be a part of a team. “I’ve learned about being a part of a team you need to help people and have fun with them,” Junior Jeffrey Campbell said. “I liked seeing my mom get excited for me when we won, and I was doing it for my brother. He never got to go to state, so I wanted to see if I could go to state for him.”

As the track season progressed the bond between the athletes and their partners began to grow and became more of a family than a team. “We definitely bonded as a team, everybody came together,” Coach Hight said. “But I think just with their partners they began to relate to them, help them out, and built that bond and friendship that set us apart as a team. They were friends, true friends by the end of it.”

When the winners were being announced everyone huddled together in hopes of bringing home the title. “Kaitlyn and Kylie came up to me when they had announced the top five,” Coach Hight said, “And they whispered in my ear, “Coach Hight I think we might win.” In my head, I was thinking we would. As they were announcing we weren’t fourth, we weren’t third, and then they announced second we knew then that we had won. Just to see the excitement on their faces that we had conquered something we had set out to do. A goal that we wanted to reach.”