Broken records and medals won. That’s the best way to describe the Upper School 2021 track team.

Rachel Nelson ‘23, Paul Ray ‘23, Alex Kelly ‘23, Jeremy Henderson ‘23, Ayris Gratts-Cole ‘21, and Naysa Williams ‘24 have broken school records. 

Nelson ran the 400-meter dash in 58.91 seconds, breaking the record that former student Kaitlyn Johnson set a couple of years ago. Nelson’s recent successes have motivated her to work harder. However, as a child, she never thought about running track. Her focus was on soccer.

“My dad ran track in college with Coach Jared Connaughton, so that’s why I eventually started to run track, starting in the seventh grade,” Nelson said.

The boys 4×200 meter relay broke the school record at the All Saints Episcopal School meet. Ray, Kelly, Henderson, and Gratts-Cole worked together to run the race in 1:31.56 minutes. 

“I knew going into that race that we were gonna break that record,” Ray said. “We all knew from start to finish our names we’re gonna be up on that wall.”  

Williams has been running track for about eight years. Before every meet, she sets a goal or a time that she wants to achieve. She tunes out all of the noises and distractions so she can focus on that feeling she gets when she crosses the finish line. 

“My favorite thing about running track is everything about it, meeting new people, having meets, goals, personal records, bonding with my team and much more,” Williams said. 

Williams has broken two school records. She broke the 100-meter by running it in 11.60 seconds and the 200-meter with 24.46 seconds. However, her favorite race to run is the 4×100 meter relay. She loves to work with her teammates. 

Williams works with her dad, a club track team coach, and Connaughton, Track & Field and Cross Country Head Coach, throughout the week. 

Connaughton is proud of his athletes’ dedication and hard work.

“My philosophy is to cater to the individual athlete and allow them to develop on their own terms and at their own pace,” Connaughton said.

Since track and field is both an individual and team sport, Connaughton likes to focus on each athlete individually so that everyone can improve. When athletes run individually, Connaughton and the other coaches can provide specific feedback. 

On May 8, the track team attended the SPC Championship Track Meet at St. Marks School in Dallas. 

Many of the Falcons performed well. Nelson won first place in the 100 and 200-meter dashes. Sutton Howard ‘23 placed second in the shot put. The boys 4x100m relay team, which is the same as the boys 4×200 relay team, placed third in their race. The boys 4x400m relay team consists of Ray, Gratts-Cole, Henderson, and Jackson Brockway ‘24 and they placed third at the championship. Henderson also finished third in the 400-meter dash. The boys 4x800m team, including Sawyer Parker ‘22, Henry Lynn ‘21, Andrew Nober ‘21, and Rising Huckaby ‘24, placed fourth. 

Mimi Cauble ‘23, Kylie Carter ‘24, Sadie Schuster ‘22, Nelson, Howard, and Williams, are all a part of the girls All-SPC team for 2021. Joaquin Castro-Balbi ‘22, Gratts-Cole, Henderson, Ray, Kelly, Huckaby, Lynn, Andrew Nober ‘21, and Parker made the boys All-SPC team for 2021. 

“The future of our team looks bright,” Connaughton said.