8th grader Sonja Semling took first in the 1600 meter race with a time of  time of  5.29.97 at the Dover-Eyota meet on Friday, April 23, 2021.

 “I felt really energized and ready. I had lots of adrenaline and was super excited. The race felt really short compared to the 3200. My main competition was the clock. It can be hard for me at times to have lots of motivation when I have to race basically alone, but through this I have learned to pace myself better. I really enjoyed the race and had a lot of fun,” Sonja said.

“I have been working really hard on getting my times down for my speed workouts along with building more endurance on hills in Chicken Valley. My training has definitely upped its game from last year”.

“My goal coming into the race was to beat 5:30. I haven’t done a 1600 before with training, so I wasn’t exactly sure what I could do. Overall, I am very proud of my race and can’t wait for the rest of the season to go on as I get to race against better competition and drop my times”

The girls race next at Plainview-Elgin-Millville (PEM) on Thursday, April 29.