Some students may fear an absence or missing work, but sophomore Caroline [Cheezey] Bell would gladly miss school any day, as long as she gets to go to a track meet.
“Track meet naps are the best anyway,” Bell said.
While she was at Kealing Middle School, Bell’s twin brother Luke started running track at Lamar Middle School, which inspired Bell to do the same.
“My parents were like, ‘Hey, you should do track,’ and I was like, ‘That’s the plan,’” Bell said. “I was planning on joining in seventh [grade], but then that was my COVID year, so I was in complete lockdown.”
Following the delay brought by COVID, Bell joined the Kealing track team when she was in eighth grade. Compared to this team, which she described as iffy, Bell said she loves the Mac team and that track has become her favorite sport.
“I just think the community is so great, and I’ve always really enjoyed running,” she said. “Track is just the best.”
Joshua Amy, head coach of the track team, was the girls’ sprinters coach last year. Bell was coached by Amy when she first started running with Mac as a freshman.
“The first thing I noticed was that she was short,” Amy said. “She reminded me of a previous track runner, Major [Faught].”
Faught, a 2022 graduate, had been a runner for the distance medley relay team that broke the second-place time record in the nation for their event. Though she also runs the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes, Bell continues Faught’s short-runner legacy by running relays, including the 4-by-200-meter and the 4-by-100-meter. This year, she started running the 4-by-400-meter, which wasn’t her favorite.
“Honestly, it kind of sucked,” Bell said. “But I mean, if I can help the team, then that’s great. And we ended up being the district champions in the 4-by-4.”
Amy put Bell in this event because he knew her versatility.
“She’ll do anything,” Amy said. “She’s one of those girls who, whatever you ask, if it’s for the betterment of the team, she’ll do it regardless. If I asked her to run the 3200 she’d probably do it. She’d hate it, she’d be angry, but if it gave us an opportunity to score points or win a meet she would do it.”
Outside of school, Bell has previously been a participant in private track club Austin Striders, but she doesn’t plan on doing it again this year.
“As much as I want to get better in the off-season, because I know our workouts are sometimes not the most difficult or the best at getting you to improve because there’s such a wide variety of people, the speeds and levels that people are at in that club wasn’t the right fit for me,” Bell said. “And it’s kind of falling apart, and everyone there is leaving that club, and so I am hopefully going to find a new one.”
Though Bell might not be running club track anymore, that has no reflection on the amount of effort she puts into school track, even after she sustained an injury last year.
“She was hurt for a little bit, so she was down for a couple of meets,” Amy said. “This year, she kind of devoted a little bit more energy and effort into the program. She wasn’t hurt, so she was practicing every day. She put in extra work, and she kind of developed into a leader.”
As a team leader, Bell wants to put in the most work to show her team that she cares.
“She’s one of the leaders of the team as a sophomore,” Amy said. “It’s impressive that the other girls kind of look at her as one of the vocal pieces of the team, and when they go out there and work, she’s going to be the one putting forth the most effort.”
Amy said that Bell puts in the work to lead the team by example.
“She kind of did so as a freshman, but being hurt kind of impeded that,” Amy said. “But as a sophomore, she bought into the whole thing. She really wants to be the captain of the team and have people look at her as someone who has her teammates’ best interests in her heart.”
One such teammate is junior Isley Cameron, who met Bell when she first joined track and when Cameron was a sophomore.
“My first thought was I was just, like, intimidated,” Cameron said. “She was so fast, it was kind of humbling.”
Cameron is an example of Bell’s commitment to her teammates that Amy referenced, as the two worked together on a relay this season.
“I love being in the relay with Cheezey,” Cameron said. “And she’s still the fastest on the team.”
Not only did the sport of track call to Bell during quarantine, but she decided to join softball at this time too, through a rec league called Northwest.
“So then when I came to McCallum last year, I joined softball and it’s been really fun,” Bell said. “I have a lot of friends on the team. We weren’t district champions this year, but we’ve been getting better every year.”
Since track and softball have overlapping seasons, Bell has a lot to juggle in terms of her athletics, while also tossing a double-major in performance theater and tech theater, the debate team and UIL Academics into the mix.
“I have a lot of conflicts,” Bell said. “I think it’s really just a matter of communicating with your coaches and letting them know what can happen.”
An average long day for Bell could be from 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
“It’s just like, time management skills,” Bell said. “I think it’s hard sometimes, but as long as I enjoy what I’m doing, it’s never that hard. I can always get through.”
Though it might seem like a struggle, Bell said it has never been too difficult for her to balance her sports and other extracurriculars because she always knows which one is most important for her.
“It might be harder for other people, but for me track has always been my priority,” Bell said. “As part of the softball team, they have people to replace me, but sometimes in track, that just can’t happen.”
Bell’s balancing act does not go unnoticed. Cameron knows how many activities Bell is involved in, but she agrees that track holds the biggest importance to Bell.
“She’s really talented at it, so she puts a lot into it,” Cameron said. “She does track outside of school, like pole vaulting at Anderson High. She has a lot on her plate with softball, but she always makes track a priority.”
With academics, Bell said she has been a bad procrastinator in the past.
“I’ve just been trying to get all my schoolwork done during the school day,” she said. “I try to get everything in on time because I feel like once something is late, it just kind of piles up, and I don’t want that to happen.”
Bell also tutors other students and helps them with their schoolwork, which she said helped her to understand material better.
“In that sense, I do less studying, which makes my life easier,” she said. “I just try to make sure I understand all the concepts and pay attention in class so that if I have questions I can ask them in class and understand.”
Outside of the classroom, the track and the diamond, Bell is known for her energy and enthusiastic character.
“I just like sports,” she said. “I don’t fully understand the rules of some other sports, but I love showing support. So I showed up to a lot of basketball games, volleyball games this year because I have a lot of friends on all the teams, and I think it’s important to support the school.”
The only sport Bell wishes she could’ve made it this year to football, because it hasn’t worked for her schedule.
“I’m so sad because I have so many friends in the band,” Bell said. “And I know our football team is, I mean, they’re not the best. But it’s a school sport.”
Bell doesn’t hold back this energy for her own sports either.
“I love cheering for people during track,” she said. “I’m just like the girl on the sideline, in the middle of the field, that’s just screaming at you. I think a lot of people have told me they like it, and I don’t know. I think it’s fun to support people.”
Those around Bell have noticed this, including Amy.
“Cheezey cares,” Amy said. “I wouldn’t say she cares more than everybody, but she cares more than most. She cares about the programs, she cares about her teammates. She really wants to be good at everything. She is a true track girl.”
Among all else, those who know Bell, such as Cameron, know her for this ability to push herself as well as others.
“She is such a hard worker,” Cameron said. “I adore Cheezey and she pushes me to be better every day. She’s one of my favorite teammates.”
In the eyes of her coaches, Bell is a role model for others and a supportive personality.
“I’m happy she’s on our team,” Amy said. “She’s funny, she’s great. And I know that I get all the best effort from her.”
Bell’s best effort does not translate only to track. She said competition is a motivator for her in her sports as well as other aspects of her life.
“I like to be the best,” she said. “I’m not always the best, but I like to push myself to be the best, I guess because I’m not the best. I just think having people to push you makes you better.”
