The 2018 Catoosa County Track Athletes of the Year
H
Look up the word “perseverance” in the dictionary and it’s possible you will find a photo of Heritage’s Raleigh Lewis next to it.
After placing sixth in the state finals of the discus as a freshman and fourth as a sophomore, Lewis had to settle for the runnerup spot as a junior.
However, she used the experience as motivation and back in May, Lewis finally got to take that long-awaited climb to the top of the podium and receive her gold medal.
Today, another honor is bestowed to the recent graduate as arguably the top track performer in Heritage High School history is named the Catoosa County Girls’ Track Athlete of the Year.
“It’s amazing,” she said of winning the award. “There’s so many other girls out there that have worked just as hard. To be the one that gets it, it’s really an honor.”
Lewis, who virtually dominated local meets in both the shot put and discus for the past four seasons, is a four-time Region 6-AAAA champion in both events. She won the shot put this year with a mark of 34-feet, 8.25-inches, while her throw of 121-7 in the discus won the 6-AAAA title by over 30 feet.
But already having signed a letter of intent to play softball at Tennessee Tech, Lewis opted to compete only in the discus following the region meet.
She went on to win the sectional meet with a throw of 1266 and capped off the first individual state championship for any Heritage track athlete, boys or girls, in school history with a winning throw of 126-4, taking the title by two feet against a tough field in the finals.
“She got a good throw out early, stayed there and made everybody chase her,” head coach David Gibson said. “It became a mental game after that and she did a great job of getting some good throws out there. She was a really tough competitor.”
Lewis cited an attention to detail as a key to her success.
“Every day I went into practice saying I just want to get better today,” she explained. “I just wanted to improve every day, even if it was just one little thing about my mentality or my technique, because I knew once I got to state, all those things would have to come together and work.”
But Lewis’ value to the track team at Heritage went far beyond being a virtual lock for big points at each meet, as Gibson pointed out.
“Raleigh is a unique individual,” he said. “She’s a special young lady and showed leadership among her peers. She shows kindness and compassion to her peers and to those around her. She just has an unbelievable heart for other people. She wasn’t just concerned about her own performance, but she kind of doubledup as a coach for us out there this year.
“We lost a (track) coach this year that had a tremendous amount of experience, so we had to split up some coaching duties a little differently
While Hood and Lozano were established track standouts prior to this spring, Hill was one of the new kids on the block. He admitted he was a little unsure about being a part of the team at first, but that all changed when he broke the boys’ school high jump record in his firstever meet.
“Once I came out and had that first meet and broke a school record, I decided I liked track and I thought I’d stick with it,” he smiled.
Hill already holds the Heritage record in
both the high jump (6-2) and the long jump (21-5).
He won a region title in the high jump (6-0) and tied for first in the long jump at 204.5, but had to settle for second on the jump-off tiebreaker. He went on to finish in a three-way tie for second in the high jump at sectionals (6-2) and was fifth in the long jump (21-3). He capped the year by tying for sixth in the high jump at state (6-2) and took 11th in the long jump (21-1).
However, he said that first meet of the season would be his top highlight.
“I just came out and I wasn’t expecting to
do as well as I did,” he explained. “But I guess I showed everyone that I was better than I thought I was.
“Sharing the award feels good. There’s about 40 or 50 other people on the team and there are only three of us that are here, so I’m honored to be one of those three.”
“They had solid performances all year long,” Gibson added. “There were a few ups and downs, but it was mostly just a solid, steady climb, peaking at regionals, sectionals and state. That’s where you want to find your best run, jump or throw.”