Girls Track & Field
2024 Season Review
The Lady Royal track and field team finished their season with strong performances all the way through the state meet. The entire team showed their ability to battle adversity by overcoming injuries, weather and serious illnesses.
For the first time in school history, three ladies in the same season earned their way into the Top 5 Athletes list in the same event, with two of those athletes earning Top 5 status in another event. In the 3200M, freshman Tessa Mize holds the 5th best time (11:37.92), sophomore Ava Shirley has the 4th best time (11:25.10) and state qualifier, sophomore Charlie Fletter, holds the 3rd fastest time in school history. At the state meet, Fletter ran a 12-second PR (11:09.96), only three seconds off the school record! In the 1600M, Ava Shirley (4th all time 5:25.41) and Tessa Mize (5th all time 5:25.92) also earned spots on the Top 5 list. Other athletes earning their way onto the Top 5 List this season were junior Molly Feldman and senior Sophia Ramsay. In the regional meet, Feldman ran a 15.52 in the 100 hurdles to become the 2nd fastest hurdler in school history, while Ramsay ran a PR in the 100M (12.75), the 4th fastest time in school history.
The girls overall worked hard and were able to have their best performances at the “big” meets – invitationals, county or the state series. Sophomore Reagan Turk, the competitive backbone of the team, ran the season’s best time in the 800 of 2:23.31 at the Cougar Invite and also anchored two relays – the 4 x 800 and the 4 x 400. The 4 x 800 relay of Turk, Charlie Fletter, sophomore Ximena Zarza-Diego and sophomore Madelyn Kitchens ran a season’s best time of 10:05.93 at county and finished 2nd at sectionals to qualify for the regional meet. Turk also anchored the 4 x 400 relay along with team members freshmen Alana Hawkins and Cici Ruplinger and senior Sophia Ramsay, who ran their best time of 4:20.85. Tessa Mize ran her best time of 5:25.92 at the regional in the 1600M, as well as Ava Shirley with her best time of 11:25.10 in the 3200M. The 4 x 100 relay of junior Kalise Gutierrez, Alana Hawkins, freshman Halle Moore and Sophia Ramsay also ran their best time of the year of 50.78 at regionals. Other regional qualifiers were Turk in the 800, sophomore Lydia Stahley had her best high jump of the season at sectionals to advance and freshman Stella Asher also tied her high jump PR at the sectional to advance.
Senior Alyssa O’Conner, senior Amelia Shirley and Molly Feldman all earned Academic All-State recognition. Awards for the Best Athletes in Event Groups were earned by Sophia Ramsay in the sprints, Molly Feldman in the hurdles, Lydia Stahley in the field events and Charlie Fletter in the distance events. Fletter was also the recipient of the Mental Attitude Award for the team.