But many do not.
Rickards sophomore Jabriel Giddens was fortunate enough to hear his after winning the 400 meter dash in 49.41 seconds.
"I used to come in third place," Giddens said. "I was tired of coming in third, and wanted to be in first. I put a lot of time in, prayed to God and he answered."
Giddens had run the event since he was in the ninth grade. Many of those times he would run alongside Godby senior Lavon McMillan and finish behind him in the standings. This time it was Giddens' time to shine.
"He did good," McMillan said. "I did everything I could to get ready for this race . . . he just got the best of me today."
The Cougars finished the night in first overall with 159.83 points. Rickards was second with 117 points, followed by Lincoln's 98.66.
"The guys did a pretty good job," Godby track coach Jesse Forbes said. "One of our main goals was to not get injuries and have fun."
Junior Willie Downs certainly had fun in the triple jump. He jumped 48 feet, 81/2 inches, which impressed Forbes.
"It was probably one of the best triple jumps in the state," Forbes said. "He just knows what it takes to get better."
Downs also contributed a victory in the high jump with a 6-2 mark, two inches above a four-way logjam at 6-0, and he missed a third title, losing to teammate Lavorrie Johnson's 22-31/2 mark in the long jump by an inch.
Godby also got victories from Joe Franklin in the 800 and 1,600 meters. Godby also took the 4x800 and 4x400 relays to clinch the victory.
On the girls' side, Maclay pulled out a close win with the final pole-vaulting events closing in. Marauders coach Gary Droze was in shock following the 142 to 1401/4 win."
"We didn't expect to win city this year," Droze said. "We did not expect to repeat because we graduated some real good talent. They had so many points on us. We had to have a perfect showing in the pole vault."
And they did.
Junior Liz Landers improved her personal best pole-vault of 8 feet to 9 feet on Tuesday, ensuring her team of a win. On top of that she defeated Maria Harper from Chiles, whom she had never beaten previously. Ironically Droze never thought the win could come down to the vault.
"Our top pole-vaulter, Laura Kuhse from last year graduated and is now at Florida," Droze said. "I never expected our vaulters to be the difference makers this season. I'm proud of all of them."
Most of all Droze was proud his team got a win against a difficult opponent.
Florida High gave the Marauders a challenge, taking two of the three relays and four of the individual running events. Florida High won the 4x100 relay in 50.20 seconds.
Maclay also benefited from depth in the middle- and long-distance events, getting at least three athletes in the points in the 800, 1600 and 3200. Katy Swain led a Maclay sweep of the top three spots in the 3,200 with an 11:48.54 time.
Entering the 4x400 relay, Florida High trailed Maclay by 5.5 points. To get the title, Florida High needed to win and Maclay to finish fifth or worse. Florida High got its win in 4:16.03, but Maclay took third in 4:19.49 to clinch the title.
"(Florida High coach) Gretchen Meyer is a phenomenal coach." Droze said. "I've known her for many years. If your going into a meet with her it's going to be tough. I know she is a great rival but it's great to have that."
The newfound toughness will be vital for the Marauders who are preparing for regionals. But Tuesday night's win will be turned into a rally cry for Maclay.
"They have some strong teams," Droze said. "This was a nice run for us. We went into a big meet and just winning it by a couple of points is huge for us. The fact that they could go against a team like Florida High and beat them will help us down the road."