GOOD HOPE, Ala. – This track & field season was another successful one at Good Hope as the Raiders finished runners-up in Sectionals for the first time in school history. Junior Zoe Marks recapped the season and what she learned during the campaign.
“I feel like this season went really good. We won county again and got sectional runners-up for the first time in school history, so I felt like that was a big deal and was glad to be a part of that. As far as what I learned, I learned to just trust God. When I go to a meet and don’t perform how I would have liked, I just know that God has got me and He knows what’s best, so I just lay everything on Him,” Marks said. “It was awesome. We had worked so hard the whole season and it was an awesome feeling when all that hard work had finally paid off.”
Zoe feels blessed to be a part of a special team and got some great advice from the seniors on the team as well as Coach Matthew McCulloch.
“It was honestly a blessing to be a part of such an amazing team. I simply just loved even going to practice every day,” Marks said. “I learned a lot from many of my teammates this year, but there was one thing that really stood out to me. One of my thrower teammates, Colton Lindsey, really helped me realize that a bad throwing day doesn’t make me a bad thrower; it just means that I need to keep working hard to achieve my goals.”
She added,
“He is a good coach. I really appreciate all of the things that he does for our team. He is very hard-working and puts a lot of time and effort into making our team the best it can be. I’ve learned a lot from him, but one thing he has taught me is that no matter how hard it gets, you never give up. If you keep continuing to work hard, you will get better and achieve your goals.”
Zoe was around some really great seniors and learned some things from them in the process. She talked about what she improved on the most on her way to a new school record during Sectionals.
“The seniors were always fun people to be around. It was never a dull moment with them. I’m really going to miss all of them. One piece of advice I was given from them was to live in the moment and soak up all the good times,” she said. “One thing I feel like I most improved on was the Shot Put. I started out this season throwing 29 and by Sectionals, I was up to 31. While I was at Sectionals, I broke the school record that had been in place since the 1970’s. It was so awesome. I felt like it was so crazy that I did because it was from so long ago.”
Zoe improved a lot during the last season and will continue to work hard to get ready for next season.
“I feel like I have improved a good amount since last year. I worked really hard this past off-season so that I can hopefully get recognized by colleges. I ended the season off last year with a 29’5 and knew I needed to get into the 30’s, so I worked hard and made that happen,” she said. “I will continue to keep throwing and hitting the gym to get stronger. As far as my individual goals go, I’d love to get top three at county again, top three in Sectionals, and top 10 at State. As far as team goals go, I’d love for us to win county again and get as many people state-qualified as we can.”
Zoe talked about what will make next season’s team special to watch, her role models growing up, and what she will remember the most about this season and being around this team.
“This team will be very special to watch because we have so many good athletes returning next year, and everyone is going to get better. If we can win county back-to-back and get runners-up in Sectionals this year, there’s no telling what we could do next year,” she said. “When I first joined the team, I was in the seventh grade and all the other throwers were in high school, so I guess you could say I looked up to them because they all threw so much farther than me and all I wanted to do was just throw like them. The thing I will remember the most about this season would probably be going to State. We had so much fun, had some pretty good performances, and it was nice to bond with each other. I absolutely love being around this team and I’m going to miss the seniors so much.”
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