DALLAS – There is a major sense of pride in the air around Carter High School, right now. Both the girl's track team and the boy's track team just won Class 4A State Championships.
"First off, I want to say I’m proud of you guys,” Coach William Connor told the students.
The athletes say they had to overcome lots of obstacles to bring home medals and State Championship trophies this season. Challenges, they say, that forced both teams to bond like never before.
“We’re hard workers,” senior Sha’Carri Richardson said. “Everything that we want we go out and we work for it. Nothing is handed to us.”
Senior Lakyron Mays says the Carter Cowboys athletes had a different focus competing at the state level this year.
They ran in honor of their former teammate Ledajrick “LD” Cox. Cox was killed during a drive-by shooting hours after graduation last year. Both the boys and girls track teams wore uniforms and shoes bearing the athlete’s initials. Mays called it a meaningful and motivational gesture.
“Everybody bonded around LD,” Mays explained. “LD was a part of our family, and he was a real good brother to us all. Seeing him gone, especially after competing with him last year, when he won his ring, which we should have won last year, it motivated us this year to go and get the ring even more.”
The students call themselves determined risk takers, excelling athletically and academically.
“We compete just like we do on the track in the classroom,” Coach Conner said.
The girl's team can now boast breaking personal records and winning back-to-back championships. The boys are building new brotherly bonds, knowing a majority of the team is graduating in a few days.
The sense of pride around campus is running high, knowing the strength of reflection and support can prepare them for any race.
“The one thing about track – the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. Track doesn’t lie. It’s you against that track," Coach Conner explained.