By NOAH FINEGAN – Winter sports bring a lot of excitement to the IHS sports community as basketball, wrestling, and hockey are back, filling our weeknights with entertaining games and the athletic prowess of our athletes. But what about those who don’t do participate in the more common winter sports? That’s where winter track comes in, and despite going under the radar, IHS always tends to have a successful indoor track team.
The team goes to eight meets in total, three of which are at Penn State University, and the other five of which are at Edinboro University. Despite the rigorous travel schedule, the team never fails to churn out successful races and results.
Recently, the team had a stellar day, in which three school records were broken by senior Grant Sharp and sophomore Maddie Redhead-Kriston. Sharp broke the 800m indoor record with a time of 2:03 and placed sixth overall. Redhead-Kriston blew up the track, starting the day off by breaking the 60m dash record with a time of 8.50 seconds, and later setting the 200m record with a time of 28.06 seconds.
The three record-breaking races weren’t the only great performances on the track for IHS. Junior Jeremy Adamson placed 6th in Pole Vault, vaulting a height of 12’ 3”, sophomore Isabelle McCabe placed 4th in the 3000m run with a time of 11:51, and to cap the day off, the 4x400m relay team of juniors Sam Oskey and Dominic Ciocca, sophomore Joey Bujdos, and senior Grant Sharp placed 4th overall with a time of 3:46.
Participating in winter track can be a grueling experience with athletes having to fight winter weather conditions to practice. Sophomore Hannah Lenze commented, “I do it because it’s more work and I want to get really good at the 3200m race for spring track.”
Winter track as a whole is a great way to stay in shape during winter and enjoy the fun of competing on an almost weekly basis. The sport also proves as great preparation for spring track, leading to much excitement within the team. “We definitely have a lot of potential and I’m very excited to see what we can accomplish both this season and during the spring season after a whole winter of preparation,” senior team leader Sam Lenze states.
Most of all, the best thing about winter track is that participants have fun. From practices to meets, there is no negativity among the coaches or athletes. So in the future, if you don’t have a winter sport, and want to have a fun way to stay in shape, consider winter track. It may be a decision you never regret.
[PHOTO BY DYLAN LATORE]
Photo Caption: Junior Samuel Oskey bolts down the track during the 60m dash
