As the 2025 spring track season draws to a close, the athletes who participated are celebrating an eventful year. With districts over and the anticipated State meets on the horizon, people like boys team captain, Thomas Morrison, reflect on a great season. “I think this year I found myself more as an athlete than in years past. I’ve really been able to use my training and find what’s good, find what’s bad, and work on my weaknesses. And this year I’ve gotten to race against some of the fastest people in the state and I think that’s one of the most important things. Training with people who are better than you, learning from them, and then seeing them again and maybe not trying to beat them, but maybe this time keep up with them instead of letting them get out in front of you. So there’s a lot of growth and I’m getting excited to keep on growing as an athlete and hopefully go further next season and get faster and faster” said Morrison.

There were plenty of memorable performances and all the hard work of our Glacier Peak runners shined bright out on the field. Some students even qualified for the State meets in the upcoming weeks. “Our sprinters for the four by one like Pakama, Mateo, Izzy, and Luke were standouts. They did great. They broke a school record, they won districts and going into state, I’m super excited to see how they do. We had a lot of PRs and like I said earlier, the goal is to have your athletes peak at the end of the season because that’s where it really matters,” Morrison said.

Every athlete had their own way of preparing and fighting their way through meets. Record holders like Pakama Badjie embodied the grizzly spirit as they sprinted toward the finish line. “I came into districts feeling pretty confident about myself. I always believe that confidence is the key to sprinting because you have to have confidence in yourself, but you also have to have the confidence that you’ll be able to execute rather than win because if you focus too much on winning, you don’t know what to do to win. So I visualized my 100. I visualized my best race, and I kept going through the motions, and I was able to emulate my past self and PR by a little bit and I took second in Districts for the 100,” Badjie said.

Both the boy’s and girls’ teams built family-like communities for their team members that demonstrated the strong bonds of GP students. Our school celebrates its ability to bring kids together and work towards great goals, and this season was a great example. “I’m glad that our girls have become such a close team and it’s kind of exciting to see all the freshmen and underclassmen grow and get better,” said girls team captain, Gracie Botten. Gracie is graduating this year but plans to return and cheer on her teammates next season. “I’m excited because next year I’ll definitely be coming back for spring break and going to different track meets to see all my old friends and all that stuff. So I’m excited to see all their improvement and talk to them again,” Botten said.

The season, however, isn’t over yet. State is looming ahead, and our qualifying students know exactly what they need to do to prepare. “Rest is the most important part coming into State because I’m coming off districts and I’m also coming of a meniscus injury, so I need to rest my body as much as possible and prep it to run at a high intensity for multiple days at a time,” Badjie said. “It feels good having set some records, but I know that I always have to keep myself humble. There’s always gonna be somebody else who might come over here and break it. And I’m fast for my region but there’s other people out there who would definitely smoke me, so I just got to keep working and keep grinding,” said Badjie.