The mysterious sport of Indoor Track has started its season with it’s conditioning.

The students participating in Indoor Track started conditioning in November, right after Thanksgiving break, in order to prepare for their season that starts in January. Students can talk to Mr. Ed Shephard, the track sponsor, if interested in participating.

The conditioning practices are held throughout the school in the weight room, hallways and outside, if the weather permits. During practices, the team will run on the treadmill to build up their endurance. To increase their speed, the members do short sprints for up to 40 seconds. The team also works on their cores by doing sit ups and other ab and chest exercises.

“We sometimes watch [track] videos to look at technique,” Shephard said.

There are approximately 10 students participating with the indoor track team this year.

“It varies from year to year, sometimes there’s 20, and once, there was only one,” Shephard said. “We get some freshmen, but many don’t seem to know about it.”

During the season, the athletes will go to meets at Edinboro, Youngstown State University, S.P.I.R.E Institute and others. The meets last all day and are held once a week. The indoor track season lasts about a month and a half, but the time varies depending on the success of the team.

“We did okay last year, but some of the meets got cancelled because Edinboro had some issues in heating. We are going to try and go to some other places this year,” Shephard said. “ We also had some bad weather that made practice difficult.”
Indoor track is valuable for the team, considering that the outdoor track season starts in March.

“If you aren’t doing another sport, then it’s definitely a good way to stay in shape”, Shephard said.

Track in general, involving both indoor and outdoor, can be beneficial throughout life. For example, many elderly people who ran throughout their life, or walk in their old age, have seemed to be healthier and lived longer. So it’s a fact that it would benefit your future by joining track.

Not only do the members have the chance to participate in their events, but it will continue into the outdoor track season as well.