The Raiders are running toward the end of the spring sport season. As the final games, matches and meets wrap up, Reagan’s track teams never stops.

Reagan has two track teams, distance and sprint. Richard Burton, a new coach this year from Northern Guilford High School, coaches sprint, and Eric Fritz, coaches cross country and distance.

Practice is held every day for both teams. Distance runs at Reagan on Mondays and Wednesdays, and the rest of the week at Reynolda Gardens or C.G. Hill. The sprint team runs at Reagan until 5 p.m., and. then go to the weight room for strength training and conditioning.

Meets are hosted during the weekdays at conference schools, and invitationals are held on the weekends for the best three athletes in each event depending on their times.

The last open meet was Wednesday, April 26. The CPC meet will be held Tuesday, May 2, for those who qualified. After CPC, only the top four finishers at regionals advance to states.

“Our teams should do pretty well at regionals and hopefully states,” Fritz said. “We have a talented group of guy sprinters along with strong girl distance runners who will be strong at regionals and states.

As the season that started in mid Feb. comes to an end, there are many accomplishments the team can be proud of. Distance runner Isabel Zimmermann broke the school record by 10.34 seconds in the 3200m at Raleigh Relays. Along with this achievement, she also now holds a Forsyth County Championship Meet record, running a 1600m in 4:59.76 minutes.

Reagan’s sprint track team has been keeping up with distance as well. DJ Warrior, Mason Powell, Keasean Dirk, and Malik Miles broke the previous school record of 42.94 seconds in the 4×1 relay with a time of 42.7 seconds.

“I’m excited that they came together as a team to achieve this goal of theirs,” Burton said. “To see them work hard is incredible.”

As the season ends, it’s important that these runners realize the capability that they have to do well in their future races.

“It means a lot to know I’m one of the fastest in school history, and I’m sad knowing this is my last year at Reagan,” Miles said. “I just have to keep running while I can.”

Reagan’s track team has performed well in this 2017 season. Being one of the largest sports teams, track has made history that can be added to the Raiders’ school record.

“Our new runners sometimes find it difficult when they first join the team,” Fritz said. “It just takes time, patience and hard work to get caught up with our veterans. The key is not to get discouraged. Some of the very best runners in North Carolina are right here at Reagan High School.”