MORGANTOWN — In a team sport such as track and field, you’ll often hear coaches from smaller schools lament about a lack of athletes to field a competitive team. At Trinity, a similar issue persists — the Warriors field 12 athletes in the track program. Despite the size disadvantage, Trinity learned to work the limited talent pool the school has and even excel with it.
“There are definitely advantages and disadvantages to having a smaller team. We have to be able to adjust to being put into events we might not usually run. But everyone on the team has learned to do whatever they need to do to help everyone else succeed,” senior Kaylie Laskody said. “We are one big family and it’s honestly a blessing that we’re so small — we’ve learned leadership and sacrifice for other and not to be selfish.”
The small group proved its worth to the program this season, capitalizing on the success of a strong season last year which saw the Trinity girls’ squad earn third in the Mason-Dixon Conference and Shawnee Jenkins (now at South Harrison) capture the school’s first state championship.
That momentum energized the Warriors as they look to continue to build on the foundation that coach Jordan Brooks laid for the program. This season, Trinity has set or broken eight school records — five on the boys’ side and three on the girls’ side — with the girls’ team earning second at the 2019 Mason-Dixon Championships last weekend.
“Every year, we know that we’re a lot smaller than everyone else, and it’s exciting to be able to go out there and perform and be amongst the best,” Brooks said. “This year is really exciting because we only had seven athletes last year, and only three returned, but we’re up to 12 kids on the team. They’ve been working hard, and the results have been showing it. It’s been a record-breaking season.”
The Warriors were led by Laskody at the meet, who earned the high point award at the meet — she took home first-place in the 300-meter hurdles and 800-meter run and second-place in high jump.
Perhaps her most impressive performance of the day came on the final leg of the 4×400 meter relay, the final race of the day. The Warriors entered the event in fourth place as a team, behind South Harrison. Laskody outkicked her opponents in the last 200 meters to move her team into the lead, securing the win and the runner-up team finish by just two points.
“It’s a really big deal. She’s been getting better and better all season long, She’s been leading this team all season, and I think she might have put some pressure on herself knowing she was signing at Alderson Broaddus and that pressure turned out to be a good thing. It’s been cool to see that hard work and see how its progressed into some really great results for her,” Brooks said.
Trinity looks to make a strong push as the season nears its final stretch, but perhaps the real victory regarding the team’s current success and growth will be long term — there are hopes that the current energy around the team will transition into a sustainable track and field culture at the school.
“I’m hoping the younger kids in middle school and the underclassmen start to realize that when they join the track team at Trinity, you join a whole new family. I hope when people look at this group and see some of these seniors that have come out their last year and love it and wish they could have started earlier, and that will make them want to start earlier rather than later,” Laskody said.
