Off to a great start, Watonga High School senior Jocelyn Turney hopes her last year of high school track season will have a strong finish.
After last year’s cancellation of the track season, Turney said she has been working towards getting back into shape for this year,
“Coach Coleman has specific workouts for each group of runners,” Turney said. “I just finished basketball a week or two ago so I’ve been working to get back in shape by doing some mileage stuff.”
Luckily this year, COVID hasn’t had too much of an impact on her track season as Turney seemed to have high hopes.
“Practice has been good!... COVID really hasn’t affected practice at all whereas last year it affected it a ton,” she said. “We’ve had good weather and it feels super great finally getting to run… I’m hoping that our season won’t be affected and we get to compete at all of our meets.”
Trying to balance school on top of all the extracurricular activities she tends to hasn’t been too difficult for Turney as she said she tries her best to stay organized, however, things can sometimes get stressful for her.
As for the season so far, Turney said that her first track meet this year went “really good” and she already has her goals planned out for this season.
“I started this season off great,” Turney said excitedly. “Some of my goals are to just keep improving each week. Of course, winning state again is another big goal that I’m sure everyone on the team has!”
Looking back on her time running track, Turney thought back to when she first began and the long history she has had competing in track.
“I’ve been running track since fourth grade. We had elementary track meets and I was pretty good so I just stuck with it,” Turney said. “My dad was good at track too so I wanted to be like him.”
On top of this, Turney also remembered one of her most standout moments that took place the last time she was able to compete.
“Winning the 4x800 m relay at the 2019 state meet is an accomplishment that I’m very proud of! It was a great feeling for my team and I,” Turney said.
While Turney said she strives to be the best in everything she participates in, she also acknowledges that she couldn’t do this on her own.
“I really want to make my parents proud and that’s where I draw most of my motivation and inspiration from,” Turney said.
This year, while Turney does have high hopes for the season all around, one thing has stayed at the forefront of her mind.
“The thing I’m most excited about is just getting to compete! Feels like it’s been so long since we’ve been able to.”