Indoor Track Sprints Into Their 1st Season

Imogen Smith, Staff Writer

With over 80 athletes participating, the first ever season of indoor track is off on the right foot. The season runs from December to February, and prepares athletes for spring sports.

The team will be coached by Matt Henry, who also coaches cross country and outdoor track and field.

“Most of the state has indoor track, and we were at a bit of a disadvantage at track,” Coach Henry said.

Indoor track is very different from outdoor track. A distinguishing factor is that the big meets take place in an indoor facility, however there are some that take place outdoors. They are appropriately named “polar bear” meets.

For most runners, indoor track is the time to train and condition for the spring track season, but there are some athletes who use it to condition for separate sports.

“We have a lot of people from different sports, and they have the opportunity to try track for the first time,” Coach Henry said.

This is sophomore Caroline Chu’s first season of ever doing a Stone Bridge running program.

“My friends encouraged me to do it, and told me it would be good for endurance and strength,” Chu said, “and I am excited to meet new friends and gain endurance.”

Freshman Lucas Lee is excited to see how the season will go.

“I want to gain experience of indoor track and meet new people,” Lee said.

Lee went on to say that he wants to do his best, and have fun during the season.

Some runners have high hopes of setting records and improving.

“I want to get better, and drop time,” junior Taylor Knowles said, “if I improve, I can eventually get a PR.”

Sophomore Caroline Alexander is aiming for a personal record and wants to go to invitationals.

“There’s a sense of accomplishment,” Alexander said, “and invitationals mean that your time is good enough to compete with other runners.”

To Coach Henry, the only challenges facing the team is the weather and adapting to the new venues.

The team had a meet at Stone Bridge on the 6th.

“Everyone ran well, and it was the first experience outdoor,” Coach Henry said, “We did well despite being cold.”

The team had another meet at Woodgrove High School on Dec 13.

The team’s next invitational is on Dec. 22 at Boonsboro High School, and next meet is at Liberty University on the Jan. 19.