Not letting disaster define them: Winterboro High School track teams head to state competition
It's shaping up to be a winning season for Winterboro High School's boys and girls track teams. Both teams are coming off huge sectional wins over the weekend.
"I came in second place in long jump, but I'm excited because I need to do that again,鈥� said Skyler Green, a 10th grader on the girls track team who reached the state level for pole vault.
Weeks before the sectional win, both teams dominated the county competition, too.
Zakahia Buchanan, a ninth grader on the girls track team who broke the record for girls high jump, added, 鈥淚t made me feel proud, coming back to school. Like, I feel like I made my community proud, me and my team.鈥�
At these track meets, what some of their competitors may not know is just how much these student-athletes have already overcome.
Last month, a deadly EF2 tornado ripped through Winterboro, destroying their athletic fields and wiping out brand-new track equipment.
A school bus was thrown on top of the auxiliary gym, the same place they practiced in because they do not have a track of their own.
鈥淲e were able to move to the parking lot, to the bus lot, run in front of the school and just utilize our campus,鈥� boys track coach Skylar Mansfield said.
"It was devastating not to have it because we knew we were so close to county and then sectionals, and so, obviously, it was sad, but we knew how to adjust to that," Sherry Vermilyer, girls track coach said. "So, and the kids knew, they knew we would come up with a plan."
Video below: Bus thrown into roof of Alabama high school during EF-2 tornado
And the students trusted the plan. Through it all, the athletes stayed focused, never missing practice and never complaining.
"I feel like nothing's changed for the throwers, but I feel like the jumpers were impacted the most because we had just gotten the equipment, and we lost it. We haven't even had it for a year,鈥� said Kaden Ponder, a shot putter and a 10th grader on the boys track team.
After the storm, the Winterboro community stepped in to give students the support they needed to keep moving forward.
Principal Grayson Lawrence said, "The Winterboro community stepped up and has provided money and food and things needed to carry on throughout this, you know, unfortunate event."
Carter Castleberry, a 10th grader on the boys track team, said, "We appreciate all the support and all the donations that they give."
Now, the boys and girls are headed to Cullman this Friday, aiming to sweep the state championship not just to win medals, but to win back a season they refused to let be defined by disaster.