By Ken Hansard
Piper Hula, a senior track standout from Derby, generally runs the 200, 400, 800, and the relays. As the season begins, she is thrilled to begin competing in earnest, “I’m really excited to see how much I can improve my times and how well we can do together as a team.”
If Piper can improve her times even a little, she stands to write her name all over the Derby record books and to a large degree, in state history. Rather, perhaps we should say that she is ready to re-write her name in the Derby record books. Hula already owns the Derby High record for the 400, and she shares school records with her teammates in the 4 x 100 and the 4 x 400, all three of which she set last spring, “Setting the 400 school record was especially rewarding because that was a goal I had set as a freshman. And I appreciate the relay records because I really enjoy all the girls I ran with.”
Those accomplishments were quite impressive, but even then, Hula wasn’t finished dressing up her resume, “Our girls won Regionals as a team – the first Regional championship in school history! I was happy with how I performed at state, placing in each event I qualified for. I placed 4th in the 400, which is probably what I am most proud of.”
As a senior, Hula has set the bar even higher, “I really want to run below a 55 in the 400, below a 25 in the 200 and hopefully get around the 2:10 range for the 800.” Piper put in a lot of work in the off-season to help try to shave some time from last season’s P.R.’s, “I really worked on my reaction time and acceleration in the preseason. I started high school doing more distance races. Now that I’m transitioning to more of the sprints, I have to make sure I can get out of the blocks as fast as anyone.”
Piper also understands that a lot of her value to the team goes beyond her ability to run fast, “I try to be the best example I can for my teammates and to work as if someone is always watching me. I run whatever event the coaches need me to at the time. It helps that I really enjoy my teammates.”
Hula also ran cross country for three years for the Panthers, qualifying for state each year. When she isn’t running, she is active in FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes), her church youth group, Student Council, and 4-H.
Piper is also a standout in the classroom. She boasts a 3.98 GPA and is a member of the prestigious National Honors Society. She will attend Pitt State in the fall to run track and to get a degree in their FACS program. She would eventually like to open a boutique and do alterations or custom design work, but she is open to other opportunities, “I’m just trusting wherever God leads me.”
