April 3, 2025 was the PV girls track and field home meet; the second home meet for the team in the last four years. Seniors on the team looked forward to getting a senior night and having the opportunity to compete on their home track for the second time in their high school careers.
Senior Reese O’Donnell has run track her whole high school career. “A home meet is important to our team because it’s a chance for all of us to be together. With such a large team, not everyone is at away meets. It is also always fun to run on your own track and have the home advantage,” explained O’Donnell.
The class of 2025 had one home track meet in 2023. Due to the fact that the home meet is typically hosted early in the season, it is often canceled at the last minute due to weather conditions. Competing on their home track was very meaningful for seniors, especially since they have only had this opportunity once before.
Senior Elodie Stroup has been on the team since her freshman year. “In 2022 and 2024 our home meets were canceled due to cold weather. It’s always been a huge disappointment to the team when the seniors don’t get their one meet to be recognized and the rest of the team never gets to compete on our home turf,” Stroup explained.
Not only did the team have the opportunity to compete at home, but they won. The girls successfully took first place in nine different events including discus, shot put and both the sprint and distance medleys.
Last season, 20 seniors missed out on their senior night due to weather. With nearly 30 seniors this year, there was a sense of relief that followed the success of the meet. “We never get student support and rarely parent support due to how far our away meets are. This was really the one night where we could feel supported. We were all very happy that it wasn’t canceled and even happier to have won as a team,” said Stroup. “Winning away meets is one thing, but winning at home your senior year is a completely different feeling and I’m pleased that we got to have that experience.”
