As a three-sport athlete at Whitehall, the clock looms large for senior Lindsay Solderitch while she competes during the fall, winter and spring.

Solderitch is running over open terrain in the fall, churning through the water in the winter, and racing around the oval in the spring. Each one of those sports is essentially a race against the clock, and the senior has become well versed in competing against the hands of time.

She said it all begins at practice. That’s where the work starts for her as she looks to shave seconds off her times in each respective sport.

“All I can do is better myself at each practice,” said Solderitch.

Right now she’s preparing for the District XI AAA Track and Field Championships which will be held at Blue Mountain High School on Wednesday. She finished fourth in the 400 meters at the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Championships, crossing the line in 1:01.42.

She said it was a good experience although she was a bit disappointed in her time. She believes she can equal a personal best which stands at 60 seconds flat, and that’s what she’ll be looking to accomplish this week. She doesn’t want a repeat of that feeling once the race was over at the league championships.

“It made me more motivated to do well at districts,” she said.

Her goal is to finish among the top two competitors and qualify for the state tournament. Once again, that work begins at practice, and she’s putting in the work to make that dream come true.

Solderitch spends a lot of time working to improve her 400 time. In fact, she’s going to be training all this summer so she’s ready to hit the ground running when she shows up at Millersville University in the fall. She be part of a Marauder’s squad that’s led by head coach Andy Young. Once there, she’ll be under the watchful eye of Assistant Coach Akil Stokes who works with the sprinters.

He’ll have a well-prepared student-athlete on his hands who’s intent on being the best runner she can be.

“I’m really excited to get better, honestly,” said Solderitch.

Solderitch said that her mindset is to work as hard as she can, with an eye to keep getting better. She said that the current coaching staff at Whitehall gives them really good workouts so they can achieve those results.

Right now she’s focused on the district championships. She’s set to race among the third grouping in the 400. That Section 3 grouping has the best seed times, and figures to produce the top-two finishers.

Solderitch said that when she gets into the blocks she says a little prayer. The senior doesn’t like to cloud her mind with anything that may distract her and prefers to keep it simple.

“Just get out of the blocks strong and do my best,” Solderitch said.

Solderitch opted not to run in the 4x800 relay race, but will be cheering hard for teammates Catherine Hudak, Sophia Mrazik, Mikayla Warren and Brianna Uhnak.

In addition to those competitors, Mariele Patungan will be competing in the 100 and 300 meter hurdles. Brielle Schrey will be competing in the javelin, while Arizona Marakovits will be vying for a state bid in the pole vault.

The boys will see their 4x800 competing at the D-11 championships as Jacob Busch, Peter Busch, Sean Connolly and Brenden Sargent will pass the baton in search of a state trip.

Solderitch also qualified for the district championships in swimming, making it back to the pool in the 100 breaststroke and the 100 freestyle. It’s another sport that pits the competitors against the clock, and even more so this past season when they were relegated to virtual meets. However, Solderitch admitted that she wasn’t a big fan of the virtual meets, preferring the head-to-head battles that marked her career pre-pandemic. Still, she said she didn’t alter her objectives and approached the season with the same purpose of getting better via practice every day.

As the school year winds down, there will be the familiar rites of passage such as prom and graduation. Solderitch is looking forward to both those events. However, what takes place this week will occupy her thoughts.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” said Solderitch. “I really want to make it to states for my last year.”