The hot and sticky wrestling mat. The heavily chlorinated pool. The gritty rubber of the track. These are commonplace recreational areas for some, but for First Flight’s 2015-16 winter sports teams, these places were more like mines. And if they were dug deep enough through months of hard work, gold was eventually reached.

First Flight’s wrestling, swimming, and indoor track and field teams all brought home gold medals this past winter, either individually or team-wise. In all, five athletes obtained gold medals, while one team was able to bring home a team state title. The winter athletes were celebrated last month at a pep rally in front of the entire student body.

At the NCHSAA 2A state wrestling championships, senior Connor Hughes, junior Carlos Martinez and sophomore Jeremiah Derby all claimed first place in the weight classes of 170, 195 and 113 pounds, respectively, while senior Kyle Cortez took third place in the 138-pound weight class and sophomore Arien Leigh placed fourth overall at 106. The five wrestlers combined tallied enough points to secure the overall 2A team state title, making First Flight history as the second sports team to do so. In the words of Derby, the amount of joy from winning can be simply described as “the best feeling in the world.”

Most of the wrestlers on the team have been highly involved with the sport since they were young, working hard throughout middle and high school to achieve a singular goal: winning. It’s safe to say that work paid off.

“The feeling is something you can’t explain,” Martinez said. “I’ve been working pretty hard since my freshman year to accomplish this goal, and now that I won individually and as a team, it feels pretty good.”

Martinez already has his eyes set on next season even though his current one isn’t quite over yet. He is participating in the National High School Coaches Association National Wrestling Championships in Virginia Beach on April 1, where he earned an All-American title last year.

“My goal is to place again and be a two-time All-American,” Martinez said. “And for next wrestling season my goal is to be a two-time state champion.”

Hughes bids an emotional farewell to his high school wrestling career after walking out on top. He qualified for the state championship all four years and placed third last season. This year’s championship match wasn’t decided until the very end, leading to a surge of mixed emotions.

“It was like 90 percent ‘this is amazing, I can’t believe this is happening,’ ” Hughes said of the experience. “The fact it just instantly ended for me as I walked off that mat: 10 percent was, ‘Wow, it’s over.’ ”

Junior Hunter Crook dominated the competition at the NCHSAA 1A/2A swimming and diving state championships on Feb. 13, placing first in the 500 free and eighth in the 200 free.

“That was my main goal this year, to place first in the 500, and it’s a nice feeling to know I achieved it,” Crook said.

Crook has been swimming since the fourth grade, primarily with the OBX Swim Club and high school. He is continuing to train multiple hours per day in the pool to achieve more ambitious goals next season.

“I want to get the North Carolina 500 free record, which is 4:25,” Crook said. “I’m only 11 seconds off that time right now.”

Although indoor track is not formally a sports team at First Flight, junior Hailey Schreyer and sophomores Alex Rodman and Skylar Stultz were able to participate in the NCHSAA 1A/2A indoor track and field state championships on Feb. 13. Rodman ran a time of 3:02.92 to capture first place in the women’s 1000-meter run. She also ran a time of 3:02.92 to claim second place in the 1600, while Schreyer placed 14th in the 1600.

“Well, I got a lot faster over the season, and a state championship ring on top of that makes me feel great,” Rodman said.

Stultz ran the 1000 meters in a time of 2:49.44 to place seventh overall in the event. He was scheduled to run the two and one mile as well, but wasn’t able to due to strep throat.

The trio was able to partake in the indoor track season through Currituck High School, which has a certified NCHSAA team. Currituck provided more benefits than just traveling help for the runners.

“For the most part, we mainly coached ourselves,” Stultz said. “But sometimes we went over to Currituck with coach Laurie Davis and trained with them and did some of their workouts.”

Junior Byrde Wells can be reached at wellsje1210@daretolearn.org.