A senior on the W.E. Track team, Gabriela Karch has had a lasting impact on the team. Throughout the spring, the team has shown much success including winning the SEC Liberty Division Championship on May 11th. The team medaled in every event and scored 178 total points, 94 points more than the next team. Gabriela also qualified for Nationals in the 4×400 and 4×200 events. This is Gabriela’s sixth time making Nationals in three years. I asked Gabriela a few questions about what motivates her, how it feels to to qualifying for Nationals and her impact on the rest of the team.

How long have you been doing track?

I started track in seventh grade and ever since then. In seventh and eighth grade it’s only spring and then freshman year through senior year, I’ve done winter and spring.

What’s your favorite part about track?

My team is my second family. Knowing that I’m running for them, and that they have my  back, and that I’ll always have theirs. I’m really going to miss this team.

What drives you to keep running?

I do a lot of individual events and I do a lot of relays. Knowing that there are other people relying on me, and knowing that my team is also relying on me, just keeps me going.

As a senior, how do you help some of the underclassmen?

I tell them that I get nervous, and that’s the truth even after running all of these races over the years, I still get nervous. I also tell them that you’ve done it before, it’s not your first time, I know you’re gonna do your best, I’m proud of you, the team is proud of you, and go out and run like I know you can.

How do you qualify for Nationals?

As a team, we had to run under 3:56 for 4×400 and we ran 3:55 so far, a really good time early in the season. For 4×200, we ran a 1:45 and it actually took us two tries, but when we got it, we were really happy.

How do you prepare for a big event like Nationals?

We prepare simply from normal training. When we get closer to Nationals, we lighten up a bit because it’s a big competition and we want to do well. Now we’re doing a lot of over distance and under distance, a lot of speed training, but before we go to Nationals we ease off a little bit.

What’s your biggest moment/achievement on the track?

That’s a hard one…there’s a bunch. Probably during sophomore year, it was when we ended up placing first at Nationals and that was a big moment because I was only a sophomore and we were an underclassman team with three sophomores and a junior. It was really unheard of at that point of us even placing in Nationals let alone getting first. I was just a surreal moment.

Gabriela is planning on running in college at Millersville University, in Pennsylvania.