The Nathan Hale Rangers track teams enter the 2023 season ready to use last season as a building block for what head coach Walter B. Williams II sees as one with a lot of potential for his squads.

“Last season, we qualified two boys to the state meet, which was held in Ardmore,” Williams said. “It wasn’t the final outcome that we wanted, but it gave both young men a taste of what it feels like to compete with the best. For the girl’s team, we lost our top sprinter, who was a regional finalist, due to a family move out of state. But this season is shaping up to be exceptional. With only two seniors on the boy’s team and all underclassmen on the girl’s team, I’m extremely excited to see how this year’s team continues to grow. Led by freshman Sh’Kyra Jackson, we have first-year athletes on the girl’s team who are starting to step out of the shadows and getting stronger, faster, and better every single day to make a name for themselves. The boy’s team is led by co-captain, junior sprinter Jeradiah Hernandez, and sophomore distance runner, Xailen Wilborne. The hardest workers on the team, they do not give up no matter what. Overall, the next couple of years will be very exciting to watch.”

While he has big expectations for his team this year, coach Williams knows that there will be bumps in the road along the way.
“With every high school program, there will be challenges,” he said. “But the biggest challenge we face is parental support. Having parents involved in some way brings a different mindset to the students. They just feel like they can conquer the world. Also, with high school track, we have to ‘pay to compete’, so having some type of financial support helps the student-athletes be able to compete in track meets.”