Starting in late February and ending in the middle of May, Track and field is one of the longest spring sports. Dedicating hours of their day to running, these athletes have been committed to improving. Last year, the Lady War Eagles were runners up at the State Championships. This year, they competed with a new level of intensity and determination. As a result, these ladies were able to come home with a trophy, personal bests and new school records!
Q: Why did you join track?
Keziah Donaldson ‘25: “I just wanted to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and I felt like running was the way to do it”.
Savvy Seward ‘25: “I started running last year and I think I decided to run because I was getting bored of soccer… I honestly thought I would just do it to stay in shape.”
Q: Do you feel connected to your teammates? How is the team dynamic?
KD: “I like the environment. The coaches are really fun to be around and the team […] it’s a good social environment. I feel like my teammates definitely pushed me to be better and I feel like we all pushed each other to be better. We were all really encouraging. I don’t think there was really any ill will.”
SS: “I think that the team and I are very connected. I think our friendships make it easier to get through races because you always know that you are going to be able to go back to a team that is going to be proud of you. I think that it is a really supportive environment. It definitely helps me get through my races.”
Although the athletes are the ones “running” the show, coaches play a HUGE role in it all! Ryan Davis is the head track coach and has been a coach at Woodward for about 20 years. When it comes to track, he is the man to talk to.
Q: Why did you decide to coach track?
A: “Growing up, I’ve always been involved in sports. My dad was a longtime coach in Columbus, Georgia, where he coached for forty years doing the same thing I do– coaching football and track. So, I always knew that it was in my blood, it was just a matter of time. When I had the opportunity to come to Woodward, I jumped on it because I knew that it was what I wanted to do as far as coaching and being around kids and being around sports.”
Q: When you see runners feeling down or anxious– how do you deal with that?
A: “So track, even though it’s a team sport, is very individualized. There are so many different parts with field and distance and sprints and jumps, and pole vaults. So, I think that the biggest thing is to make sure that everyone is enjoying it because track is mostly training. [There] has to be some sort of fun aspect of it. I’m not too sure as far as kids getting stressed, but you know, you kind of want to break the monotony and do things like games sometimes. We’ve done ice cream in the past and made sure they’ve gotten rewarded for top performances and things like that. So at the end of the day, you want to keep everyone involved and everyone happy in the sport because it is a hard sport, it’s a tough sport. It’s not something that you get instant gratification from. It’s something that you get your gratifications from your effort and your work that you put in.”
Q: Can you describe what it felt like at State? What was going through your mind?
A: “State was a little stressful. We were behind about 28 points going into the finals of running on Friday, but I knew all year– most of the coaches knew all year– that we had a chance to pull it out and it was going to take some top performances. I kind of get emotional thinking about it– how well those girls performed the day of finals. They raised the bar of what it takes to be a track athlete. Those girls shined like no other, you know? When you talk about top 10 in the US times, breaking meet records, you know? And they were happy doing it! Everyone had a great time. Everybody had an active role. You had certain kids that were running the Prelims that didn’t get to run in the finals, but they accepted that role and did an amazing job of making this a total team effort. So, at the end of the day, you just had to be there to see that atmosphere because it was kind of special to see first place, first place, second place, second place, state record, and top 10 finish. So those kids, I can’t say enough about what those girls did. It’s phenomenal to see that happen.”
Q: What words of wisdom can you give to our upcoming and current runners?
A: “Set goals and try to achieve them. Everything happens for a reason whether it’s injury or whether it’s challenges. Use this as motivation that will help you grow as an individual and be a productive citizen. Sports provide challenges that you don’t get every day, so try to channel those challenges into making you successful in whatever you want to be whether it’s a career in sports or a career outside of sports. It teaches you structure, it teaches you discipline, it teaches you guidance, it teaches you work ethic. Take advantage of all of those things and use it for the future.”
Special Shoutouts from Davis:
An extra shoutout to those seniors. You had Olivia Powell, who experienced some challenges in her career as a track athlete and ended up being a track athlete at the state meet. Michael Butler, another senior– same thing. He wasn’t on the podium last year and he made it to the podium this year.
Congratulations to the Woodward Academy Girls Track and Field team for Winning the 6A State Championship! It was a total team effort!
Senior Olivia Powell was named the 6A overall highest point winner.
Top placers were as follows:
- Olivia Powell: 1st in the 100m Hurdles (13.44– 7th fastest in the US, 6th fastest all-time in the state) and 300m Hurdles (41.26– New School and Meet record, #2 all-time in the state)
- 4x100m Relay Team of Olivia Powell, Chelesa Williams, Kenyah Conner and Sydney Glee: 1st place (45.54–New School and Meet Record, 7th fastest all-time in the state, #9 in the US)
- 4x200m relay team of Savvy Seward, Madison Williams-Zackery, Makai August and Kenyah Conner (1:39.08–New School and Meet Record time, #7 in the state)
- 4x400m Relay team of Olivia Powell, Madison Zachery Williams, Kenyah Conner and Sydney Glee (3:44.63–#10 in the US)
- Other Top Finishers Include
- Chelsea Williams: 2nd in the 100m and 200m (School Record)
- Sydney Glee: 3rd in 200m and 4th in 400m
- Peyton Funderburk: 5th in the Triple Jump
- Jensen Warnick: 7th in the Pole Vault
- Special thanks to Keziah Donaldson, Madison Gardner, Chaniah Ross and Mikayla Virgin, whose participation on the relays in the region and sectional meets helped make this win possible
For the Boys:
- Michael Butler finished 4th in the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.76
- 4x100m relay team of Cameron Stephens, Carey Carter, Josiah Abdullah and Aaron Gulliuame finished 7th overall
- In the Prelims, the 4x100m relay team of Cameron Stephens, Carey Carter, Josiah Abdullah and CJ Heard Broke the School Record with a time of 42.05 which ranks 7th in 6A.
