Track is a widely recognized sport that people participate in all over the world and it is well known for it’s vast diversity in the events that it offers for its participants. However, it is a sport that is highly stereotyped as being a sport only meant for the fastest people but that stereotype is entirely wrong. There are some events where you don’t have to run such as, shot-put or throw events.

 So why does the sport gain so much popularity? The sport of track is very interesting because it is a team sport even though there are many individual events combined within. It provides immense diversity and it could fit any athlete’s interests and needs based on their physical performance.

 With that being said, How are the points all totaled in such a complex sport? With the point system, every team member of a track team truly does matter and it could either win or lose the meet for the high school depending on what place each athlete receives in their heat and event. Even though it is highly independent based, the athlete needs to be on their top performance to help the team overall, plus there are some team events such as relays that help close the gap on their opponent.Once the team has the perfect line-up and the point system figured out, they are on the right track to compete in state meets with the best of the best.

 Many athletes have a secret routine that works for them every meet  to calm down their nerves. Many athletes jump up and down or listen to music to help prepare them for the big meet. What are the routines that athletes go through at Blaine High School? Are they their own routines or have they been learned over time through their coaches. With that question in mind, we surveyed some student athletes on the Blaine track team to see what they do to prepare themselves for the current and future track meets. We also asked them about their thoughts on the current track techniques and coaching styles that get them meet ready.

 Courtney Schnur (High Jumper and Pole Vaulter) states that she joined track because the events she does “looked fun and her dad use to do pole vault”. Schnur’s pre-meet warm up includes doing “pop-ups and [running a lap]”. Overall she thought the coach is “good and gives positive advice to improve”.

 Another student that was interviewed was Catie Miller (Hurdle and 4×800 Relay runner). She was yet another person who joined track because of family influence. Miller said her “sister did distance..and coach said she was good at them,” so she stuck with hurdles as being her main event. Her pre-meet warm ups include running and stretching to prepare her for her big race. She also thinks that her “coaches [are] nice and know what they are doing.”

 The last person interviewed was Cara Garfield (Mile, 800, and 2 mile runner). She decided to take a leap of faith and join to “try something new sophomore year..and distance was something I was good at.” Garfield explains that her pre-meet warm ups include a “15 minute each jog and stretch”. She states that she “she really likes the distance coach (Karel) in helping her with track workouts and helping her train.”

 Overall, I received very positive feedback about the coaching styles and techniques. It seems to be a common pattern among athletes to do stretches and jogging to get them meet ready before their next race, which can be seen as a technique used in practice by many coaches. The athletes are highly optimistic about their practices that will eventually prepare them for the many meets to come. Track will still be a complex sport to understand because of the varying scoring tactics used for each event, but in that aspect it will definitely keep the fans on the edge of their seats at all times.