The start of spring also means the start of the outdoor track season. At the beginning of the season, the coaches work on conditioning their athletes, discussing the importance of stretching correctly, explaining each event, and testing them to see which events they are best at. Our school has a great track program. Last year we had many athletes make it to state, and we had one of the best 4×200 relay teams in the state. The relay had Josh Pazel, Drew Modelski, Braylen Dabney, and Vinny Ballone. and Michael Ballone, all of whom went to state for the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles. A large part of our success comes from the coaching staff. The high school coaches are Eric Grow, Lisa Modelski, Bobby Ballone, and David Hodge. The junior high coaches are Joe Ballone and Jamie DeMain.
At the beginning of the season, several students try out for the team. This is considered conditioning, which lasts a few weeks. This is a way to see which students are serious about track and which students are not. After conditioning, the main practices begin. The coaches split up the athletes into their different events to prepare for upcoming events and invitationals. These events include shot put, discus, long-distance runners, sprinters, long jump, high jump, and hurdles. Invitationals are special types of meets because there are bigger schools from around the area, the way invitationals work is that only two people from your are allowed to run an event. It’s important for the coaches to pick the two best runners for that event. Sophomore Josh Pazel ran the open 400, 4×200 meter relay, 4×400 meter relay, and high jump. When asked about his goals he said, “ Do what we did last year as a team. Individually I want to go to the state for an individual event this year.” He is very confident that he and his relay team can go to state. “We have a perfect replacement runner for Vinny Ballone: Mat Lucido. ”
Eighth grader Morgan DeMain is running the 1600 meter, 800 meter, and 4×400 meter relay. Morgan hopes to get a time of 2:50 for the 800 meter which would be a personal best for her. Morgan said her goal for the year is “to challenge myself to get better and faster for the Varsity team next year.”
Senior Mat Lucido is running the 4×200 meter relay, 4×800 meter relay, 4×400 meter relay, open 400 meters, and open 800 meters. His goal for the year is to finish on the podium in state for the relays. He is very confident he can go to state and hopes to do it in multiple events.
Many people have high expectations for themselves and for other people hoping to make it to state and represent their school well. Good luck to the athletes and the coaches for a great season!
