Medals won. Records broken. The varsity track and field team is competing in a season that will go down in school history. They surpassed everyone’s expectations and will go down as one of the fastest teams this school has ever had.
On average, a team might break one or two school records per season but not much more. So far this season the varsity track team has broken so much more. In some events such as the 4×400 and 4×200 the record has been broken more than once this season. So what makes this year different from other years?
“This year there isn’t just a single person that stands out in speed, we are all similar speed and we are all fast,” senior sprinter Courtney Jefferson said. “The team is also a lot more determined. It’s like we know we want to win and achieve our goals”
Breaking a record is not just something that happens in a day. It takes hard work both in season and out of season. Many of these record breaking athletes participated in offseason workouts with Coach Tutterow. Together, they worked on accelerations, maintaining speed and plyometrics. This, combined with weightlifting prepared them for the upcoming season.
“Offseason training is valuable in that it prepares the body for whatever demands will be placed on it during the season,” coach Tutterow said. “I also believe that high school age athletes need time away from sports, so any offseason work done should be general and speed/strength/power related.”
These varsity athletes have done the hard work and put in a lot of hours, many for four years now, such as Conner Place. Beginning his freshman year on track, Place discovered his love for jumps. After competing in both triple and long jump, he realized he was actually very good at it and his record breaking journey began. Place just recently broke the school record in triple jump with a jump of 13.99 meters.
“It has been a long time coming with Connor. Before this most recent PR where he broke the school record, he hadn’t PR’d in triple jump since the beginning of last season. It was hard because he was getting down on himself and I didnt want that. I want him to do his best,” jumping coach Ellie Dupske said. “He has put so much time and work into wanting to be the best jumper he can be. It’s been really fun to watch him be so successful these past couple of week in triple jump.”
Place not only broke the school record in triple jump, but he is also part of the record breaking boys 4×4 team. This team has broken the school record not once, not twice, but five times this season.
“Breaking the triple jump and 4×4 records has been super exciting for me. I’ve put so much time into training over the off seasons that watching it finally pay off has been such an incredible feeling. Triple in particular feels super special to me because it’s an event I’ve done for all four years of track and it’s one I’ve taken on my own, whereas in the 4×4, I’m only one man surrounded by three other incredible athletes,” Place said.
As this track season finally comes to end with GACs, things are looking very good for this team in the postseason. With more time this team is sure to shatter even more records.
