In 6th grade, senior Payton Mugnai found a sport that would make a huge impact on her life. She was looking for a new hobby, and joined some of her friends who were also trying track for the first time. She runs to stay in shape, but the most special aspect of the track is that she gets to interact with her peers.

“My friends are continuing to do the sport” she said “We have very good talks during practice” 

Inside of track, Mugnai,  competes in triple jump and long jump as well, but triple jump is what she’s most passionate about.

“I am definitely better at triple jump, with a record of 26 feet. I enjoy it because I get to improve my record each week with hard work in practice,” Mungai said.

To prepare for meets Payton loves to ice and heat her body and stretch the day before and the night before as well.  

“It is very nice to have an easy practice before meets where we can really take care of our bodies and just get focused on a lot of aspects,“ she said.

With six years of track behind her, she would do it all over again.

“If I could start over in this sport,  I would tell my younger self to enjoy it more and actually want to bet here, it isn’t as bad as it seems, so just have fun,”she said. 

Payton wishes she would’ve put more focus into track in her earlier years, but now that time is running out, she wants to get the most out of her final year that she can.

“I am so happy that I chose to join then,” said Mugnai. “It’s the best decision I made.”