CHARLOTTESVILLE — Three Eastern Hancock students are shocking the best of Indiana’s track and field athletes as they carry the Royals to the forefront as state competitors to be reckoned with.
It’s an underdog story if ever there was one, said head girls track coach Jade Galyan.
The small team of 19 girls, including throwers, has seen remarkable success this season, Galyan said. Three team leaders are helping carry the torch: Freshman Chloe O’Neal, junior Kayla Fancher and sophomore Aly Spaulding.
The three ladies narrowly missed the podium, getting ninth place in the 4×200 at state indoor finals March 24, Galyan said. But their efforts resulted in them shaving six seconds off the time of the school record.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryChloe O’Neal
The freshman athlete has taken several leaps to earn her spot as a key athlete for the Royals, setting personal goals and getting her name in the record books as she finishes her first year of high school.
At the team’s indoor state meet at Indiana University, O’Neal set another school record with a 17 feet and one-half inch long jump. She beat Alexis Laska’s long jump of 17 feet, which was set in 2001.
O’Neal usually runs the final leg of a relay, and the team hasn’t met a person yet that can match her in speed, Galyan said.
As the youngest member of the relay group, O’Neal said she admires and looks up to Fancher and Spaulding. Each day at practice they motivate her to push harder and become a better caliber athlete than she was the day before, O’Neal said.
The psychological benefits of being a member of the track and field team have also helped her enormously in her everyday life, O’Neal added.
“Every single day before a meet, I always have these times I want to hit in my head,” O’Neal said. “Track teaches me how to push through the pain and get over the mental toughness of running a hard race.”
Aly Spaulding
Spaulding credits her relay team’s progress to the hours the three girls spend in the weight room before and after practices.
Even though weight training is optional, Spaulding said lifting the extra iron has made a noticeable improvement in their performance, even after just one season. She doesn’t mind logging the extra hours under the barbell, because she realizes that training at practice alone isn’t going to cut it when it comes to building the muscular strength and endurance needed to be state competitors, she said.
Spaulding can always be counted on to accelerate on the curve, and can consistently hit a 15-foot long jump, Galyan said.
Having Chloe join their ranks has been a motivator for the team’s upper class students to step up their game, Spaulding said. Not to be out-performed by her friend, training gets that much harder when there’s a newcomer fresh on her tracks.
“Having Chloe be a freshman who’s better than me, I’m proud of her, but it motivates me to be that much better,” Spaulding said. “I’ve improved so much in eight weeks because she’s pushed me to be there.”
Kayla Fancher
The oldest of the three, Fancher was stunned when she attended state for the first time this year. It’s about time Eastern Hancock saw some representation at the state level, she said.
“I feel like teams at state, they don’t know who we are because we never get there,” Fancher said.
“But they do now,” she added with a grin.
Fancher’s strongest trait is being able to read a race, Galyan said. She has an enhanced understanding of how best to capitalize on her teammates’ individual strengths in order to perform at their best. She can sense when her opponents are gassing out and is able to snatch the baton and bolt during a relay’s hand-offs.
“I just know who I’m running with, and I know how they run,” Fancher said.
Everybody tends to consider track and field as an individual sport, but when it comes down to it, it’s all about the team, Fancher said.
It’s a sport in which you have to be on the same frequency as your teammates, both physically and mentally, Fancher said. Track is not the sport to get mad at each other, because a race can fall apart quickly when emotions get in the way.
Track is what makes her strong, on and off the track, she added. Making it to track practice every afternoon helps her handle the stress of school work.
“Everything’s mental,” Fancher said. “It’s taught me that I have to be mentally strong for the things I love and the things I don’t love.”
The crew has their sights set on breaking Eastern Hancock’s record in the 4×400 and 4×100 next, Galyan said. The 4×400 record is, 4:13:97, and this year they ran a 4:19:00. The 4×100 record is 51:51, and this year they’ve run a 52:09. Both landmarks are well within their grasp; if there’s anyone capable of getting their names in the books, it’s these three, Galyan said.
Sometimes it’s a challenge understanding how much punishment student athletes can take in pursuit of their peak potential. But not with these three, she said.
“That’s a struggle as a coach, knowing how hard to push,” Galyan said. “But these girls push each other.”
“These three girls deserve accolades, but the entire team has become remarkably successful,” she added. “We all have a great relationship, and it’s become one big family.”
