Asked how he would characterize the overall performance of SPIRE Academy Track & Field for 2024–2025—the kind of question a coach might find himself hesitating on, trying to put the best spin on what was otherwise a so-so season—Director of Track & Field Tim Mack didn’t hesitate for a second: “The team’s overall performance was great. No question. There are so many individual and group performances of note, here at SPIRE and at venues across the country, it’s hard to know exactly where to begin.”

If you do have to hesitate over an answer, hesitating over where to begin naming your team’s successes is a welcome one. “We had a lot of competitions,” offers Mack, “indoor and outdoor. We had student athletes who were ranked high in the state and ranked high in the country in a wide range of events. This has also been a year of firsts. It’s the first year we had people in the distance events and the first year we had a female thrower. And it’s the first time SPIRE has ever hosted its own high school track & field competitions.”

In terms of individual successes of note, Mack immediately called out Kadia Rock’s performances in the 60m, 200m and 400m events, in which she set team records. Brooklyn Taylor was a standout in the long and triple jump. Kellen McCullough did very well in the hurdles—well enough to set a team record; he also competed in high jump, long jump and javelin. Dane Szczepkowski did a “phenomenal job” in a number of events, including the 100m and 200m outdoors. Jenna-Marie Thomas also took bronze in the 400m hurdles at the Carifta Games. Finally, more than half of SPIRE’s track & field athletes qualified for the Nike Outdoor Nationals. That’s all just off the top of Mack’s head.

And we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the Adidas Indoor Track Nationals, held in Virginia Beach this past March, which produced two national champions for SPIRE. 

In the Girl’s 200 Dash Championship Finals, Kadia Rock (Bridgetown, Barbados) won with a time of 23.94, becoming national champion in the event. In the Girl’s 4×400 Relay Championship Finals, Kadia Rock, DaQuana Howell, Kaylee McIntyre and Jenna-Marie Thomas took first with a time of 3.51.83, winning a national championship in the event. 

Following is a list of other notable SPIRE Academy finishes in Virginia Beach: 

• 2nd place, Long Jump, Kelan McCullough (Bryson City, North Carolina)
• 3rd place, Long Jump, Brooklyn Taylor (Alliston, Ontario)
• 4th place, 60-Meter Hurdles, Jenna-Marie Thomas (Chaguanas, Trinidad & Tobago)
• 4th place, Freshman 60-Meter Dash and 2nd place, Freshman 200-Meter Dash, DaQuana Howell (Georgetown, Grand Caymans)
• 6th place, Boys 4×400 Meter Relay

Asked about challenges over the past year, Mack listed things that, in the big picture, could really only be construed as positives: “We’re getting bigger now, which means we’re traveling more, which always poses its challenges. Here’s an example: Somewhere out there on the road, we think we’ve found a place to eat, but then they can’t accommodate us because we’re such a large group. Or, because we have so many student athletes from all over the world, we have to be able to find food that’s acceptable to everyone. But these are good challenges. It means our program is going places, in every sense of the word.”

They say an army travels on its stomach. That might be the case for track & field teams, too, with these student athletes accomplishing everything that was asked of them, no matter where they were competing. The importance of acceptable food aside, Mack was eager to offer that the team also showed incredible group spirit, with no shortage of support for anyone out there giving it their all. “You can’t discount the effect of team spirit on team performance overall,” says Mack. “At national competitions, for example, the whole team would be jumping up and down in a circle after somebody did well. People would line the track to cheer runners on as they flashed by. This makes a real difference. One of the best parts of this year has been watching everyone cheer each other on.”

As the student athletes of SPIRE Track & Field finish the year, with some to return to SPIRE and others to move on to the next step in their academic and athletic journeys, Coach Mack offered these parting words of wisdom: “Don’t settle for where you are. Keep driving. Keep pushing. Summer isn’t a time to just chill. It’s a time to overcome other people, because everybody wants to just chill out over the summer. Try and build another layer into your skillset. People get to the top of their sport by doing stuff in the offseason. It’s what I did coming up as a pole vaulter. I designed my own summer training programs. It’s a champion’s mindset. Keep striving. Keep getting better. We already have 25 people committed to SPIRE Track & Field for next year. For any of our student athletes, new or returning, they can count on us to do our part if we can count on them to do theirs.”