Freshman Heidi Hauptman has been preparing for track at FHN, and now that it is here, she is setting goals to ensure that she has a successful season. She has already had two meets for the season and she is excited to see her hard work paying off. As she already made it to the state meet for cross country this year, she is excited to see how well she does during her track season.

“What I’m looking forward to most this season is getting to spend time with my teammates and getting to see the results of all the effort I put into it,” Heidi said.

One of the main events that Heidi is participating in the 4 x 8 relay. She already has her goals in mind, including nabbing one of the four spots on the team which are up for grabs between six girls.

“The 4 x 8, girls side, has three returners coming back from the team that went to state last year,” Kim Krieger said.

Heidi is committed to putting in the time that it takes to be successful in what she does. In this particular case, she is applying her general love for the sport with her skill and hard training in order to be the best that she can be. She runs at home, at school and at meets to achieve the goals that she has set.

“I know all of us want a spot on the 4 x 8 team that makes it to State if we do, so I think just kind of the competitiveness, but still friendliness of the team is going to be really exciting to see play out over the course of the season,” Heidi said.

Heidi’s dedication is made very clear to the team and the coach. She expresses it in the work she puts in, the skill she has and how determined she is during meets. This has made a strong impact on other students in track from a motivational standpoint by the encouragement of other teammates.

“I mean, I have the privilege of working with Heidi every workout,” senior Brenda Alvarado said. “When I’m tired, she pushes me to keep going.”

The 4 x 8 team is projected to do very well this season based on their trip to State last year. The girls hope to make it to State again this year and are working hard in practices and meets to accomplish that goal.

“For the 4 x 8 specifically, I want to stay on the team because there’s a lot of competition between girls this season,” Heidi said. “I just want to keep my times fast enough that they feel like they can put me on the 4 x 8 team and still have a strong team with me on it.”

With this in mind, the 4 x 8 girls are looking forward to seeing what is in store for the rest of the season. Team members, such as Heidi, share the love of the sport.

“Well, I could go on for a really long time,” Heidi said. “It’s just kind of a stress reliever and I love all the people I meet and become friends with. I couldn’t imagine my life without running because it’s such a big part of my life right now.”