Ready? Set? GO! Close to 500 freshman stood at the starting line for the WHS annual mile run April 5 on the Ram Field. 

“It is a fun way to celebrate all the hard work they have put in this year to improve their cardiovascular fitness as well as offer a cool venue to compete with one another and compete with their required mile run,” said Wendy Ramos, Girls’ P.E. teacher and coordinator of the event.

Along with the students running, many teachers were brought in as rabbits to motivate runners.

“Having rabbits is a fun way to motivate the students to run,” Ramos said. “They have a teacher that they can chase down and have bragging rights and win prizes when they beat them to finish.”

The rabbits this year were Carol Lippert, Rebecca McGinnis, Janelle Collins, Brian Fitzgerald, Robert  Templeton and Eric Schneider.

Leanna Ramirez had the top girls’ time stopping the clock at 6:41, but Sam Hettinger topped all runners with an astonishing time of 5:25.

Hettinger said that he just went out there, ran as hard as he could, and was actually suprised he came away with such a good time.

“It was a great day. Everyone did a great job on their run with a lot of students theit best times of the year,” Ramos said. “Everyone pitched in to make a success from timing, recording numbers, cheering students on, and handing out water.”