Good word out of track camp
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, March 21, 2000
The campaign to renovate Wescott Field and its track appears to be a back burner item at the moment for the school district.
Tuesday, March 21, 2000
The campaign to renovate Wescott Field and its track appears to be a back burner item at the moment for the school district.
When the campaign to raise money for the renovation begins in earnest, there will likely be a lot of talk about how a renovated track will change the course of the Austin’s track-and-field program.
Currently, the track is substandard and doesn’t provide the type of environment conducive to attracting or fostering top-flight performers.
With that in mind, it’s nice to hear that some 40 boys have been attending track-and-field practice – up 15 from a year ago.
Boys’ track coach Chuck Banks wasn’t about to wait for the new track to help turn the program around.
"We recruited hard," he said.
The recruiting effort has brought a lot of young newcomers into the fold.
Track-and-field is a numbers game.
More participants means more versatility in filling out a lineup.
But, more importantly, higher numbers give coaches more of a chance to mine talent – to tap into the abilities of the athletes.
There is such a wide variety of events in track-and-field – each requiring a different sort of athletic ability.
You just never know who is hiding a great sprinter or pole vaulter inside of himself.
Sometimes the athlete doesn’t know either, until a coach helps bring it out of him.
That’s why when track coaches get high participation numbers, they give themselves a better chance to field a competitive team.
The most fun I’ve had covering sports was covering a state champion track-and-field team in Wisconsin.
When following a successful track-and-field team, a track meet can be a delightfully hectic, head-turning affair. One moment you’re watching a long jumper shoot down the runway, the next you’re witnessing a tight race at the finish line.
I’ve always said there’s nothing better than covering good track-and-field and there’s nothing worse than covering poor track-and-field.
Higher participation numbers alone show that Banks and Co. have the downtrodden Austin track-and-field program headed in a positive direction.
That, my friends, is not an easy task considering the condition of the team’s practice facility.