The season is going great for the UHSSE Outdoor Track team. We have had one meet so far at Weaver High School, and many runners have already started to set new personal records and have great times. Our runners are ready to try out new events, meet new goals, and qualify for both conference and states. Our boys team tied for first place in indoor track and is hoping to win once again. “I really hope to compete at a state level in any event this year, the most likely event being the 4×8. It would also mean a lot if we could win our conference championship again. We tied for first in indoor, so I hope we can win outdoor,” said Emmett Spaeth ’25.
Outdoor track can bring athletes to find their passion and find out that they can be incredible at something they love. It brings the satisfaction of completing your goals and hard workouts even when you don’t have 100% to give. “My favorite thing about the sport is that time at the end of the workout where you know you have hit your times and you did everything just as you planned it. I love crossing things off of a checklist, and successfully completing a hard workout is one of my favorite parts,” said Catherine Hockenhull ’25. With every practice and effort, we can come closer to achieving our goals and getting the times that we once dreamed of getting. The delayed gratification of running forces us to trust that we are making progress, even when we don’t see it yet on the track.
One of the best parts of outdoor track is the community that it creates. Being pushed through the same workouts and races bonds you together. Having practice and meets together every day brings new friendships and forces you to get used to each other’s music taste. All of the experiences that we have together shape us as people and as runners; we wouldn’t be the same without each other. “I love listening to music with everyone on long runs and while they don’t all enjoy my taste in music, I know that they are all enjoying the run as well. I am also going to miss the relationships I have built with the people on the team, both new and old, because they have made this sport more enjoyable and entertaining. I know without both of those things I would not be the runner I am today,” said Hockenhull.
We have achieved so much together as a team, from winning championships to cheering on each other until we PR. Especially with having a smaller team, our runners have worked so hard for every win we’ve gotten. “We are one of the smallest schools in our athletic conference, so every win feels massive when we have to run against schools like Weaver with hundreds more students than we have. I think this goes for everyone, but I’m really going to miss my teammates when I graduate. We’ve been through a lot, with two track championships and three second places in XC,” said Spaeth. All of our runners, throwers, and jumpers are working incredibly hard this year so that we can get another win and bring home the trophy at the championships. We are all excited to see what this new season of outdoor track will bring.
