Track athletes run towards the finish line all season
Photo by Photo by Kayla Krinninger
Girls track members practice together after school. The indoor season is a huge component in preparing for the outdoor season, according to Kauffman.
73 girls. 17 meets. One circle. What do these numbers make? A team of runners both indoor and outdoor.
The track season is normally thought just to be outdoor, however the athletes do some training indoors for 2 ½-3 months. The training allows the athletes to practice and still perform in meets, before the outdoor portion of the track season begins.
“Indoor is the progression to get to the outdoor. Outdoor is really about fine tuning everything and keeping your fitness up that you earned indoors, that’s the key,” Jeremy Kauffman, head coach of girl’s track and field, said.
The athletes must relay push themselves to improve while in the indoor portion, so when the outdoor portion comes athletes are prepared to transition.
“It can be hard to adjust from indoor to outdoor because it’s a little startling at the first few meets when you go outdoor because you are on a smoother track,” Sydney Mark, senior and track team member, said.
Despite this, the athletes try their best to pass the baton from indoor to outdoor.
The athletes avoid mistakes and aim at any advances in skill through the number of meets in the indoor portion as well.
“[This year we added] five more meets so we have a total of seven. [Outdoor] technically starts in March according to IHSA but we don’t have outdoor meets until the first Tuesday after spring break,” Kauffman said.
This is effective for any athletes in winter sports just ending because they can just do outdoor if something conflicts. Although, the slightly better part of the season would be missed based on Mark’s opinion.
“I like indoor because it’s more laid back but outdoor is fun because you get your big competitive meets,” Mark said.
Track also allows students to get to know other people they wouldn’t normal hang out with in school. Track can be a fun social experience as well, and not just a work out, according to Mark.
“I love the team atmosphere it has,” Mark says. “I’m so close with everyone on the team and [I love] being able to push myself to limits that I didn’t know I could achieve.”
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