Typically, March and April are the transitional months from winter to spring, but this year the seasons have taken their time fully converting. The mixture of snow, rain, wind, and cold temperatures oftentimes put a damper on the beginning of a sport’s season, but the Xavier Saints girls’ track team is staying optimistic.

“The season has been pretty good so far,” senior Grace Miller said. “Although a couple of our meets have gotten cancelled, we still practice outside when the weather is good enough to run in.”

The Saints had four of their first six outdoor meets cancelled and had to practice indoors multiple times due to the weather.

“The snow has really been a hassle, causing us to have practices inside, which are not the best on our legs,” senior Theresa Lampe said. “The one outdoor meet we had was fine, but it was extremely cold.”

The team’s first outdoor meet they were able to compete at was on Tuesday, March 20 at the Sherwood Relays at Iowa City High, where Lampe placed 2nd in 100 hurdles. The Saints also ran in the Decorah Invitational on Thursday, April 12, where Lampe placed 1st in 100 hurdles. The Saints also ran on Tuesday, April 17 at the Mustang Relays at Dubuque Senior High School.

With the deadline to qualify for the Drake Relays approaching quickly, some runners are concerned with the amount of opportunities, or lack thereof, they will have to qualify. In order to qualify, one must be in the top 24, 32, or 80 (depending on the event) in the state in their event by 11:59 p.m. today, April 19.

“Due to the weather and absences of teammates, we haven’t been able to run relays that usually are able to make it to Drake,” Lampe said. “A lot of us are worried about qualifying because we aren’t getting the practice during races like we usually do.”

Despite facing some early hardships, the team hopes to work past these and focus on their goals.

“We have some upcoming meets to qualify for Drake and my goals for the rest of the season are to continue working hard and keep improving, as well as having the team get as many events as possible qualified for Drake and state,” Miller said.

The Saints’ next meet is tonight, Thursday, April 19 at the Waterloo West Invitational. The Drake Relays take place on April 26-28 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

Caitlin Kramer

Sports Editor