Senior Nate Hopper and the O'Dea Track Team Return With a Competitive Mindset

SEATTLE- Nate Hopper raced in his first meet at Chief Sealth High School and already has high hopes for his team after a successful meet competing against four different teams.

Hopper and the Irish are ready to make their presence felt. The track and field team has 90 people on the roster, which is bigger than your average team, and to make it even more intimidating the roster has plenty of guys eager to compete for another Metro League title.

“I did well but didn’t meet expectations I had for myself, but I just have to take it one race at a time,” said Hopper.

Hopper is one of the key runners on the team and competes at a high level and has a strong mindset every time he enters his races.

Hopper runs the 800m and 4x400 which are his strongest races. Hopper has been on the team since his freshman year and has had a lot of success throughout his career. Hopper holds himself and his teammates to a high standard and he has been a team leader almost his entire career and plans to have the same energy this year.

Hopper has learned a lot from past alumni and has picked up on ways to form a winning team and plans on passing on the positive but competitive atmosphere to the next class.

“Our team did very well overall and many of our guys got 1st in their races, I expect many of us to go to Metros and improve gradually and just enjoy the time we have with each other,” says Hopper.

Although the Metro League has many strong teams the Irish plan to give it their all throughout the season and claim another Metro League title and take advantage of the star potential the runners have in their 90-man roster and to also expect help from the strong leaders to guide the younger guys.

“We need to not be discouraged from getting out of our comfort zone and should be willing to take risks to win it all,” said Hopper.

With leadership being a key factor in this large roster the seniors will take the role to mentor and form an environment unique from all the other teams in the Metro League this season.

“I see myself taking a leadership role by showing up to practices and showing the younger guys what they need to do to be prepared to step up to the challenge,” says Hopper.

The Fighting Irish will have their next meet at Nathan Hale on March 30th at 2:45 pm.