As the season of fall comes to an end and winter rolls around there is only one thing on the minds of the runners of JCHS, winter track. Winter track includes some events from Spring Track and Field, but is mainly located in an indoor facility, so that the players can avoid freezing solid during meets. It is used by many as a way to stay in shape in the months leading up to the spring sports season, but for some, it is so much more. Winter track has evolved from just a simple training period into a widely anticipated and acknowledged sporting event. The usual winter track meet involves a 55 meter dash, 55 meter hurdles, 200 meter dash, 400 meter dash, 800 meter run, 1600 meter run, 3200 meter run, 4×200 meter relay, 4×400 meter relay, 4×1600 meter relay, distance medley relay (1200 meter, 400 meter, 800 meter, 1600 meter), shot put, pole vault and high jump. These events go six places deep, and the athlete’s placement, decides the number of points he or she will receive for their school.
The boy’s winter track team is getting ready to take this season by storm as they began workouts in late November leading up to the season. The winter track team is headed by a strong returning senior class that is prepared to lead the track team to victory. When asked about the condition of the track team, senior co-captain Chris Volz responded by saying, “We have a smaller squad than in past years, but luckily everyone in the group has the potential to contribute to the team. There’s a good amount of young talent coming in, that holds promise for the future. We also have some upperclassmen that have already impressed Coach Collura and the experienced runners. With these new faces merging with the older ones, our team is looking like a contender for a good amount of metals this season.”
Volz’s claims are reaffirmed by senior co-captain Sean M. Dyer who stated that, “We have a pretty good team this year. We have a lot of returning runners and should have a good season.” The bar is clearly set high for the Caldwell winter track team which is still recovering from losing a very talented group of seniors. They hope to let their performance on the track represent all of their hard work and dedication.
The Girl’s winter track team is also hoping to continue last year’s success. Despite losing a number of seniors from last year’s team the girls hope to utilize a combination of veteran experience and general enthusiasm to fuel a winning season for this year’s team. The girls also started as of late November and are hoping to finish about a month and a half of training before their first meet, which promises to be a great match up. Veteran junior runner Lindsay Demunno has reaffirmed that, “The team has been working very hard these past few weeks. We’re excited to start up with our meets and hope to see some good results in return.” This reaffirmation of dedication to the winter track program only emulates the spirit of dedication these runners have to victory and hard work, which will be shown off in the season to come.
