Senior Andrew Pott recently placed second at the Regional track meet in the 800 meter which qualified him for the State meet. Pott has had an amazing season, placing first in District and Area. To qualify for the State championship, an athlete must first place in the top 3 at District, then place top 3 in the area, and finally top 2 in the Regional. Pott said he knew District would be fairly easy, as he won by 7 seconds, but winning Area was a little more difficult. “There was this one kid from Plano in my Area who always beat me last year, so I really wanted to beat him, and I ended up winning by 3 seconds.” Overcoming that hump, he made it to Regionals, where he just barely qualified for State.
Before this year, not many colleges were scouting Pott. That changed when his times for the 400 and 800 meter runs jumped. Texas, Washington University in St. Louis, Chicago, and Notre Dame were among the large recruiters. Pott has set school records for the outdoor 800 and indoor 400 meter races. Coach Doug Robinson said that Pott has exceeded expectations this year as his time increased dramatically: “You have expectations as a coach, but what he has been able to accomplish surprised a lot of people.”
Unfortunately, he did not do as well as he would have liked at the State meet, but that doesn’t faze Pott! Pott decided to accept Notre Dame’s offer and will be running for them next year. Looking forward, Pott is excited to run for Notre Dame, where he will be running the 400 meter and the 800 meter races, and he knows that he can only improve from here!
Pott had a lot to say about the track program, and he believes that a lot of people have been and are writing them off prematurely. “Everyone last year thought we wouldn’t do that well this year, but we ended up doing better than last year… People keep selling the team short.” He mentioned that there are some very talented young runners on the track team that will be very successful in the coming years. Pott said that the team was a lot closer this year than last year, and that only made them better and allowed for the team to succeed. “Everyone exceeded expectations,” added Pott, “We are always going to be at least top two in district, if not winning it.”
Surely, from here, the Jesuit Track team will continue to improve and bring home more and more victories! As Pott moves on to Notre Dame, the Jesuit Track team and the entire Jesuit community wish him luck!
