Lucy Bobb ‘26
Over the past few years, the Winter Track team has been able to achieve personal bests, school records, and grow the program as a whole. Even though there is no track, they have still been able to thrive. How has the team been able to accomplish this?
The track team uses Hope field, the main building hallways, and sets of stairs to prepare for meets. The hallways “help with endurance, the stairs help with form,” Head Coach Ms. Shields said. At times, the team is also able to use the track at Churchill. At other times, the track team makes do with what they have in order to prepare for meets.
Sam Colvin, a sophomore on the track team, said that the team will also “go in the gym and do cardio and strength-building workouts.” Colvin is new to the track team this year and feels that having different coaches for different events makes it “easier to focus.”
Ms. Shields has been the Winter and Spring Track coach for four years, and she said that the preparation for meets has changed over that time. She also said that her central focus is on team bonding.
“A goal is always to foster a sense of community and comrade among the athletes to build a team that’s full of spirit and has a sense of pride while representing their school,” Ms. Shields said.
Ms. Shields also said that the lack of a track actually has some benefits. She said that the turf does “help because the turf adds a lot of resistance for them, and the turns are sharper than what they would be, if they were on a track.” She also said that it gives the athletes a more challenging workout, as it helps them manage acceleration and deceleration on turns.
Sophomore Sarah Fee is new to the track team as well, and said that practices can be rushed due to the sun setting earlier, and the school not having lights. They’ve even had to use their phone flashlights in order to practice their form and events. Sarah finds that not having a track to practice on, can be very challenging, especially when learning something new. The “small strip by Hope field isn’t enough to learn handoffs,” she said.
Despite these challenges, the team continues to improve. Ms. Shields helps lead by example to use the facilities and equipment around them in order to get better every day.