From DC to NYC: A Look Back on Walls Track’s Successful Postseason

Following a successful 2024-2025 Indoor Track and Field season, Walls sent 5 athletes to compete in 2 prestigious national meets. Nadia Lytle (‘25), Lars Kearney (‘28), and Reia Stock-Heard (‘27) attended Nike Nationals, each competing in their respective events, while Rory Leavitt (‘25) and Benji Shepard (‘28) attended Adidas Nationals. Nike Nationals, a larger meet, is held in New York while Adidas tends to be smaller, and is held in Virginia Beach.

At Nike Nationals, Kearney competed in the Boys 1 Mile Freshman race earning 2nd in his heat after running 4:43.68 and setting a new personal record. Kearney explained that in the future, “I want to go sub 4:30 in the mile, and I just want to go to a national meet again and keep competing.” As just a freshman Kearney has already been a key player, leading the 4 by 800 relay to first place at DCIAA Championships and the first DCIAA Developmental Meet. 

Lytle, a shot-putter, is committed to throwing Division I at the University of Delaware next year. Though this was not Lytle’s first time going to a National meet, it was a new experience, as Lytle was competing in the wake of a back injury. “I didn’t get to train as much as I wanted to, but I made the best of what I could do,” she said. For her, this was getting an All-American title and placing 6th. Lytle added, “I didn’t throw what I wanted to but I had a lot of fun and made a lot of new friends.” Reflecting on the fact that this was the last major meet of the season, and thus Lytle’s high school career, she noted that she “just tried to make the best of it.” 

Following Indoor Nationals, Lytle recovered from her injury and set a new state discus record, two meet records for shot-put and discus and won field MVP at DCSAA States.

 Stock-Heard competed in the Girls’ 60m Hurdles, a new event for her. “I didn’t know what to expect,” she said, “but I knew that I wanted a good seed time going into the semis. During the semifinals and finals, I really wanted to break nine seconds…I was so close that I know I will be able to continue to improve.” She finished 6th overall by running 9.01, earning her an All-American title as well. Following the indoor season, Stock-Heard got first in the 100m hurdles at DCIAA Championships by running 14.58, and first at DCSAA States by running 14.68.

In their first nationals appearance at the Adidas meet, Leavitt competed in the mile and the 1600 meters. “I really loved how everyone was super friendly, which definitely made it less intimidating going in,” they said. 

Despite being new to Nationals Leavitt said that “I’ve run the 16 for a really long time, probably more times than I can count, so I’m very comfortable with that race, and the mile as well by extension.” At Nationals, Leavitt set a new personal record running 5:39.31 in the mile. Following Nationals, they earned 2nd in the 1600m and 3200m at DCIAA Championships, and finally ended the season with a bang, setting a personal record in the 1600 at DCSAA States running 5:27.86.

Shepard, a freshman, also competed in the mile and 1600 meters at Adidas Nationals, hoping to break a five minute mile. Shepard noted that while he practiced during the offseason for the rest of the team, he was injured the week before which impacted his performance. While he didn’t meet the goal he’d set for his time, his 1600m race at Nationals set a great foundation for the outdoor season, where he set a personal record at DCIAA Championships running 4:48.79. Shepard added, “This community is amazing, and I'm so excited for these coming three years of high school and running.”