The season has just started for the UHSSE Indoor Track team. We had our first practice on Friday, December 6, and our first meet is scheduled for this Saturday at Hartford Public High School. We also have an invitational next Thursday at Glastonbury High. All of the runners are hoping to achieve new personal records and improve at their events. We have gained many new runners this year and are excited to see how this season will transpire. “This season I’m definitely most excited to show all of the hard work I’ve been putting in towards this sport and towards my body and towards being healthier,” said Victor Wilkins ’26.
This year we have many new runners on our team from all grades who are hoping to find a passion in this sport. Track has many events, from distance running to sprinting to field events. There are so many different events you can try, making it great for new runners who aren’t sure what they love doing yet. It can be an opportunity to see what runners may want to pursue in the short term or will continue doing for many years to come. Seeing as Saturday will be their first indoor track meet, running for UHSSE, we wish them all the best of luck in their events.
Many runners have the goal of making all-conferences and states this year. As the season commences, runners are ready to see new PRs and even try out new events. Our runners are determined to do the best they possibly can for even a chance at making states. “This season a big goal of mine is to become an all-conference and all-state athlete. Maybe all American; I don’t know because that would be a big goal. But as of right now, the easiest for me and the ones that I think I can achieve are all conference and states,” said Wilkins.
Track allows you to not only prove to other people but also prove to yourself that you can achieve everything that you want. Your goals are great enough and scary enough to work for. Every time you step on that track and hear that gun go off, you know that you have an opportunity to be more than you are. Track isn’t about hoping that your team carries you or talking about what you can do. In track, you prove yourself in your race, and that’s what you want to define you. Not even how well you do or what place you get, but how hard you push yourself and show that you’ve improved. You get to find out how important your goals are to you and how much time and effort you are willing to put in to make them a reality.
Track is different from other sports in the way that it’s an individualized sport, but you are still a part of a team that can lift you up and support you. You run your own events, and during the races, it’s only you that can make yourself run faster and push past your competitors. But you still have a group of people cheering for you from the sidelines. We train as a group and help each other achieve goals we once thought were unattainable while still being the only one that can put in the work for you. “My favorite thing about indoor track and track as a whole is the individuality of the sport. It’s not a sport where you have to rely on a lot of other people, but you can genuinely put in the work for yourself and see the result,” said Wilkins.
