When the results appeared on the electronic board from the 100-meter race, senior Morris Chiang let out a shout and collapsed on the ground, angrily pounding his hands against the rubber track and then burying his face in his chest. He had finished in first place, but that was not the source of his frustration. Clocking in with a time of 11.41 seconds, he had missed his personal record by the slimmest of margins: 0.01 seconds.

A couple minutes later, he talked to coach Jodi Johnson, who jokingly told him that if he had fully extended his tongue as he crossed the finish line, he would have achieved his personal record.

Similar to Chiang, the team did not perform at its very best, struggling to compete against Homestead HS on April 24. The boys varsity team lost by a score of 108-19 and the girls varsity team lost 71-48.

EE asked three seniors to share their thoughts on this meet and reflect on their past four years. Read below to hear what they had to say.

“There’s [Coach Kirk Flatow’s] time [from when he was in high school] that’s three seconds ahead of mine so I have to beat that. He’s been nagging me about that after every meet.”

“I was really happy that I got to race and that I finished my race, so it’s something to be proud of. I was injured for six weeks, so I missed more than two-thirds of my races. It was rough, definitely because I’ve been out for so long, and three years of my training is gone, but I mean I’m not giving up so that’s a good sign.”

“I was pretty frustrated because I was 0.01 seconds away from my [personal record] last year. It was like that close, so that’s why I was frustrated…. I have to PR otherwise I will be pissed and I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”