Springlake-Earth junior sprinter, Trace Goodman, placed third in the boy’s 400-meter dash at the 1A State Track Meet in Austin last month, clocking a time of 50.22 to bring home the bronze medal.

                Goodman talked about the race saying, “They hold you in the football stadium, so walking down there is pretty neat, but I had to be serious about it because it was Longhorn stadium and I’m a Texas Tech fan,” he laughed. “Being down there and running and warming up with some of the 6A schools was pretty cool.”

                He added, “The walk over is when it starts getting real and you have to lock in. When we got to the stadium, they give us our numbers and we put our spikes on and they walk us over to the starting line. On the walk to the starting line you could hear all of the fans and some people calling your name, people that we knew. It was just unbelievable. The atmosphere was unbelievable. When you get around that first curve and hit the 300 mark, all of those people on the visitor’s side start yelling for everybody and once you turn that last curve, everyone starts standing up and you can feel the vibrations in there. The surroundings and the atmosphere are crazy.”

                The junior talked about what the process was like for him once they got to Austin, saying, “We pulled in to Austin on Friday after the baseball games on Thursday around 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. and slept till about 9 a.m. I ended up going down to the track and watching some of the races that day and tried to get a feel for the atmosphere.”

                He added, “I went down there my freshman year to watch some of our past athletes high jump. It gets better and better every time you go, no matter what.”

                Goodman talked about why he decided to pursue the 400-meter dash, saying, “I’ve always been a big track guy since my mom is a coach and I grew up helping her at the track meets.”

                “When I got to junior high I started running the 400, 800, and all of the relays, kind of a little bit of everything,” he explained. “But, when I got to high school, I really started focusing on the 400. That’s what I wanted to do, it is my favorite race, it’s something I like to do and I’ve done it ever since. You have to be a man to run that race.”

                He talked about winning a State medal and having the title of state medalist by his name forever, saying, “It’s crazy. It’s an honor to get to go to the State Track Meet. It’s a really high honor to get to go to Austin for the State Meet with all of the hard work you put in all year.”

                He added, “Getting a medal this year pushes me harder for next year and makes me think more about it and pushes me to want to get a higher medal, hopefully gold, that’s what we all strive for.”

                Goodman gave praise to his coaches, saying, “All of the Coaches pitched in, between Coach DeLeon, Coach CJ and Coach Baker, even my mom helped quite a bit with us boys. On the weekdays the boy’s coaches would be out there running us and then on the weekends I would run with my mom and Taytum. It’s a 24/7 deal for me, you have to love it.”

                The junior said that the support he has gotten from his family is crazy.
                “We have family from Lubbock and everywhere calling and coming together to support us all of the way. That’s our inspiration,” he said.

                Lastly, he talked about what it meant to him to be able to go down to Austin and represent Springlake-Earth, saying, “It’s an honor.”

                “Growing up with my mom coaching and seeing all of the athletes go, you don’t see many Springlake-Earth kids get to go. It was crazy that we had four go with us this year and three of us medaled. It’s a good thing for some of the younger boys that will be coming up to the high school level that like track, to help get them interested in it.”