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Washington High School senior Kimaja Spencer (middle) sprints toward the finish line in the 400 meters at the 2A state track meet Saturday in Greensboro (Steve Barnes/Washington Daily News)

Pam Pack senior Kimaja Spencer gets a good start out of the blocks at the 2A state track meet Saturday in Greensboro. She finished third in the 400 meters.

Washington senior Kimaja Spencer shows off her bronze medal in the 400 meters at the 2A state track meet in Greensboro Saturday. She will run on the same track in the fall as a member of the North Carolina A&T women’s team. (Steve Barnes/Washington Daily News)

WHS senior Kimaja Spencer (left) earned the bronze medal in the 400 meters at the 2A state track meet Saturday in Greensboro. Alaya Gillespie (right) of West. Iredell won the event. (Steve Barnes/Washington Daily News)

WHS junior William Reid approaches a hurdle in the 10 meter event. He was 10th in that event and 13th in the 300 hurdles in his first state meet appearance. (Steve Barnes/Washington Daily News)

Pam Pack junior William Reid clears another hurdle in the 300 meter event. He also competed in the 110 hurdles in the 2A state meet in Greensboro Saturday.

Washington High School senior Ethan Sommers (right) takes the inside position in the 3200 meter race at Saturday’s 2A state track meet in Greensboro. (Steve Barnes/Washington Daily News)

WHS senior Ethan Sommers had the early lead in the 3200 meter race at Saturday’s 2A state track meet in Greensboro. He finished 10th in the event in his first state meet appearance. (Steve Barnes/Washington Daily News)

Pam Pack senior Kimaja Spencer got a glimpse of her future at Saturday’s 2A state track meet at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro.

Spencer finished third in the 400 meters with a time of 58:46 seconds and will run on the same track in the fall as a member of the Aggies women’s track team in the fall.

“It was good to run here today, so I will feel more comfortable in the fall,” Spencer said. “I set my goals high, so I’m disappointed I didn’t go faster, but my time was okay and gives me a goal to improve on. Some of the A&T coaches were here and wished me luck, so that made me feel better.”

Spencer won last week’s East regional event and also qualified for the 200 meters, but couldn’t run because of cramps in her hamstrings.

“I really wanted to run both, but I felt like my hamstrings would lock up if I did,” she said. “I focused on trying to catch the leader in the 400 and should have run my own race. I’m happy to win a medal and go back to work to get better for college.”

Senior Ethan Sommers led early, but finished 10^th in the 3200 meters in his first appearance at the state track meet.

“I started too fast and started to feel a little dizzy about the fifth lap, so I couldn’t push it,” Sommers said. “It was my first track season and it was fun to come to the state meet.”

Junior William Reid was 10^th in the 110 hurdles in 16.28 seconds and 13^th in the 300 hurdles in 44.76 in his first state meet as well.

“It was a good learning experience and my time was decent, I guess,” Reid said. “The track is different than what I’m used to running on and it took the first race to get my mind right. I know I have to work harder to get back here again next year and hopefully, get a medal. I’ll continue to work on getting my steps right and lifting weights to get stronger.”

Pam Pack assistant coach Kevin Chapman was happy his athletes performed well.

“Kimaja emptied her tank in the 400 and it was fun watching her wrap up high school on her future college track,” he said. “Ethan gave it all he had as well, and it was a good learning experience for William. It will be nice to have a normal season next spring and he’ll be back along with some new faces.”

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