Athletes report from California track meet

Taylor Ferda, Chris Hicks and the Whitefish High School track program would like to deeply thank the city of Whitefish and the businesses that so generously donated money to enable them to embark on such a special trip down to Sacramento, Calif.

The experience was action-packed as we had the opportunity to witness the awe-inspiring performance of the NCAA Division I National Track Championships on June 9 and 10. By invitation, we both competed against the nation's most elite high school athletes at Folsom High School on June 1 at the Adidas Golden West Invitational.

The top 20 athletes in each event from around the nation came to compete. Chris competed in the triple jump and Taylor competed in the high hurdles. A gusty head wind disallowed us to achieve top marks in our events, but we both placed fifth in our individual heat.

The knowledge and experience derived from this once in a lifetime trip was made possible by the amazing support of the Whitefish community. Whitefish has once again proven that both its support and generosity run unparalleled through the donations that we received. Thank you all for those donations. They were vital in our trip's success.

None of this would have been possible without Derek Schulz. Thank you, coach, for all the support and instruction that you have given us over the past four years. You are a great track coach, teacher and dad — greatly admired in all three areas.

Taylor Ferda and Chris Hicks

Whitefish