Girls track athletes made strides so far this season and broke multiple school records; some even were broken by the same athlete.
Kiana Cumings (11), Maya Brasch (11) and Lindsey Hinson (12) are just a few of the track athletes that have made massive strides in their individual and team events through the year.
Cumings especially has been extremely successful so far this season, breaking a number of records, including some of her own. Cumings said, “This season I’ve re-broken my 200 record and my 400 record, and we’ve re-broken the 4×200 and 4×100 records.”
Cumings has been a track athlete much of her life and enjoys running many of the sprint events. Through this love, she has become one of Windsor’s best track athletes. “I started (track) in sixth grade, just because my dad was a big track runner and a state champion himself in high school, so I figured I might as well try it,” Cumings said.
Cumings’ success is not limited only to her individual events but also to various different relays, including the 4×100, 200-, and 400-meter relays.
Head coach and sprint coach Lyndsey Lewis has worked to develop these athletes and teams for several years now and is proud of how far they have come: “I think the biggest growth that I’ve seen out of all those girls is that they have learned to work as a team and be a team and rely on each other. They really have a drive to perfect the relay and make it the best it can be.”
Brasch and Cumings are often seen in side by side lanes on the track, often competing against each other in their events. Competing against each other has always been a given through middle school and into high school, but the way they feel about each other has not been consistent; in fact, they used to have a “hate” for one another.
“Kiana and I met in … sixth grade, but I remember us being mortal enemies in seventh grade from middle school track,” Brasch said. “It was like the biggest thing in the whole world, and then we realized in high school, track isn’t that serious and we became best friends.”
Cumings had similar feelings about Brasch when they were in middle school, competing as opponents rather than as teammates working toward a common goal: “We used to actually hate each other in middle school because we were each other’s biggest competition in middle school track. Coming into high school, we realized you’re more like a team than each other’s competition.”
Hinson may be a stellar track athlete, but track is not her main sport. In the upcoming fall semester, Hinson will begin her career as a Division I softball player at Colorado State University. Hinson began track and field her freshman year and has developed greatly in the sport since.
Hinson said, “My freshman year, all my friends were doing a spring sport and I only had softball practice two times a week, so I just wanted to do something to keep myself active and just give me something to do.”
Competing as a track athlete has been an enjoyable experience for Hinson, but it also has helped her perform on the softball pitch as well: “Track has really helped me mentally with softball because there are a lot more nerves in track for me. So during softball I’m able to be a lot calmer and more confident in myself.”
Lewis has seen each of these athletes grow greatly over the past three to four years and is excited for how they will finish the season and is proud of all they have done so far. “They have exceeded all my expectations and really every time they step on the track they set or break their own record,” Lewis said.
Brasch and Cumings will return next year as seniors with high expectations for their seasons while Hinson will move on to begin her career as a Ram at Colorado State University.
