Girls track: varied events, victorious results

Sophomore Charlotte Crum in the 4×400 meter relay at the state meet last season. She was the runner-up in the 400 meter race at the state competition and aims to break the school record this year. (Photo courtesy of Jeff Webster)

Charlotte Crum joined the track team last year as a freshman, looking to improve her running skills and keep busy. She quickly became the Mason track team’s fastest 400m runner. She placed second in the 400m at the VHSL State Meet as a freshman with a time of 60.2 seconds, less than a second away from the school record of 59.59.

“I want to get the school record,” Crum said. “Last year I broke it a couple of times in the 4×4 relay, but… it doesn’t count unless it’s in the open.”

While Crum’s time didn’t count for the school record, she is an immense asset to the Mason 4×4 relay and helped Mason place second in that event at states last year.

Teammates and coaches are excited to see what Crum can do this year.

“She was amazing last year, and she was just a freshman,” said junior track athlete Sydney Smith. “Now that she knows the potential she has, she’s going to come back stronger than ever, and I’m excited to see what she’s going to do.”

This year will be junior Logan Funk’s third year on the track team. Funk regularly runs the 800m race, 4x800m relay, mile, and two mile. She placed with the top 10 in the mile and two mile at the VHSL State Championship last year and was on the 4x800m team, which placed second and beat the school record with a time of 10:04.

Junior Logan Funk in a relay at a Strasburg meet. Funk has gone to States twice and is hoping to go again this year and avoid her injury. (Photo Courtesy of Carol Sly)

Funk’s success last year was in spite of a recurring stress fracture that limited her training.

“I’m still a little paranoid of my injury because I’ve been injured since last year, so I’m still just going with the flow, trying to not injure myself or overtrain,” Funk said. “I’m really excited [though], it’s going to be a fun season.”

Head coach Jeffrey Buck is hoping that Funk can continue to be a strong asset to Mason’s team this season.

“Her goals for the season are to stay healthy and continue to improve PRs (personal records) in the distance events,” Buck said.

Senior Korinne Wills runs the 300m and 100m hurdles and the 4x400m relay. She was an All-State finisher for the 300m hurdles both last year and the year before, and she missed the state qualifying for the 100m hurdles by just .02 seconds. She’s aiming for another successful season of All-State finishes.

**Korinne Wills hurdling in the 100 meter hurdle race. Wills usually runs the 100 and 300 meter hurdles and is hoping to improve her times and beat rivals this season. (Photo Courtesy of Carol Sly)**

“I really want to drop maybe three seconds on my 300 time, which is hard, but there’s (a runner) from Maggie Walker that I really want to tie with or beat,” Wills said. “For the 100, [my goal] is just to drop a second.”

Coach Buck is looking forward to another year of contributions and talent from Wills.

“Her goals for the season are to continue improvement in the hurdling events, get All-State and contribute to the 4×400 relay,” Buck said.