Lady Bruins running for more championships

Adan Jett and Julianna Schultz were two track athletes at University School of Jackson who received their state championship rings on Tuesday during the meet USJ hosted this week.

The pair and teammate Caroline Conder actually each received two championship rings because they were both a part of state championship teams last year – winning state in the 4X800 relay with Betha Pucek and the 4X400 relay with Haynes Haltom.

Those championships actually make four state championships in the last 18 months for Conder and Schultz as they were on both of USJ’s soccer championships in 2021 and 2022. Jett was on the soccer team in 2022.

“No it really doesn’t,” was Jett’s quick answer when asked if winning state championships gets old.

“Championships are something every athlete wants to win, so we don’t take those accomplishments for granted,” Schultz said.

The two were preparing to run relays in the meet on Tuesday, and as the regular season is winding down, they’re preparing for the upcoming regional meet in Memphis with spots in the state championship in Murfreesboro during Spring Fling on the line.

“We stay motivated because with each meet we run in each week, we want our times to be a little better than they were the week before,” Schultz said. “So that means we’re working hard in practice to get those times out and seeing what we can do when we compete against other teams in the meet.”

One thing that could affect the mental aspect of the postseason is the fact that USJ hosts nearly every meet the Bruins compete in during the regular season. They will travel to Chattanooga this weekend for a meet, but otherwise, they won’t see another school’s track facilities until the regional meet in May.

“That does kind of mess with you mentally as you’re running,” Jett said. “Because we’re used to running here and the layout of the track here.

“If the track is laid out different with a longer track or one that’s more round, that can mess with you during the race as you try to handle the race – especially the longer ones.”

The Lady Bruins feel good so far about their chances of repeating next month at Spring Fling, but they know they’ve got to earn anything they win this year.

“We know there are some fast runners and quality track teams in Memphis in Division II-A,” Schultz said. “So we’re working to get our times down from last week and then trying to get them down a little more next week so that we’re hopefully running our best in time for state.”

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news