By JT Koch / Spill Editor
The NPHS Track team has started their official conditioning for the season. Meeting three to four times a week at the school to train for their events. With conditioning taking place in the winter the team has a few early struggles but Coach Eric Branch can feel the team’s excitement.
“Conditioning has had a great energy to it. It’s by far the biggest numbers we’ve had this early to get ready for the season. The weather has been helpful in some cases, but the seniors are leading us the right way,” Branch said.
Last year the track team was very successful, with broken records and state qualifying athletes. Branch also believes that the team not only competed well but had a good culture and community.
“I was most proud of our teams for sending 11 athletes to indoor state, breaking 6 school records, our girls winning County & Conference, and I was proud that our very large team came together to develop a great culture that promoted growth and improvement,” Branch said.
While the team doesn’t compete for a while Branch has already laid out his expectations for the indoor. With the amount of returning talent the team has, Branch believes they will set records.
“I expect to send more individuals and relays to indoor state this year with having so many returning varsity athletes. I also expect most of our indoor school records to fall in events like hurdles, DMR (Distance medley relay), etc,” Branch said.
Expectations for the season are high and the conditionings have been reflecting these expectations. However there are a few issues that make training even harder and even puts runners at risk of injury or illness.
“I was most proud of our teams for sending 11 athletes to indoor state, breaking 6 school records, our girls winning County & Conference, and I was proud that our very large team came together to develop a great culture that promoted growth and improvement,” said Branch.
Some athletes on the track team already have injuries and lost valuable time to train that they spent in recovery. One of those athletes is junior Hayden Flanagan. After falling during a race in the Cross Country season his ankle has caused him some trouble.
“I first got injured in September. It was really frustrating because I made so much progress just to lose it all from the injury,” Flanagan said. “I don’t know the exact injury but all I know is that the ligaments in my ankle didn’t heal properly from the first time it got injured so my ankle is weaker and less stable now. Because of this my ankle has a higher chance to get re-injured.”
At the start of the conditioning Flanagan was training and had no problems. Over time his injury took him back out and forced him to take time off the track to recover.
“I was disappointed and really stressed out because again I made so much progress in December and it sucks knowing that I can’t just get back to running right away but I know that taking the time for it to heal is the right thing for sure,” Flanagan said.
While his injury stopped him physically, Flanagan still supports his team when he can. He looks forward to the day where he can compete with his teammates.
“I’m motivated to come back strong and work hard enough that I can compete and help my team. In the meantime I’m timing their workouts and helping when I can,” Flanagan said.
