It is so terribly sad to realize, but high school sports are over.

I truly loved every single second of them. At the very least, they ended with a lot of fun for me at the Maryland state track and field championships this past Friday and Saturday.

The Leonardtown coaches make it a huge deal for us athletes. The state experience is always the perfect end to a fulfilling track season. It is quite an honor to make it that far and it is an opportunity to see the best of the best compete.

This year, we had 24 athletes make it to the state meet. The large group of athletes competing at such a high level is evidence of the strength of Leonardtown’s track team.

During states this year, the Leonardtown throwers were able to achieve second place in every single throwing event. On Friday night, Daltyn Earl took second place in boys shot put and I took second in girls discus.

The next morning, Leigha Sullivan reset the school record by throwing the shot put 40 feet 7 inches and taking second place. We realized, then, that in the three throwing events already completed, we had taken second in each.

With the boys discus on Saturday night, we saw that it was a strong possibility that we could have top placers in every throwing event. Almost unbelievably, Anthony Branch capped our strong finish by taking second in boys discus.

We all performed well, according to our seeds; however, no one would have predicted that all four Leonardtown throwers would take home silver. Leigha, Anthony and I are all seniors; however, Daltyn is a junior who will proudly lead the throwers next year.

We only had four throwers make it to the state meet this year, but we have a lot of depth. The support and work ethic of those who did not quite make state was a contributing factor to this year’s achievement.

I am so proud of our track team in general, but especially our throwing team. Although we are the butt of many of the runner’s jokes, we truly work hard to achieve our very best and we end up being some of the best. The throwers work hard at practice and we push one another to improve constantly. We are very close and we love spending time together with our close-knit group.

I am very proud of us for performing well in state and I know that our strong finish is clearly an indication of good coaching.

Madison PachnerLeonardtown senior