Winter weather comes every year, and it can bring a mix of an unpredictable amount of snow, rain, and extremely low temperatures. This year, the Woodgrove Indoor Track team not only had to prepare for their events but also for the weather during the competitions. Even though they call it indoor track, the team only had two meets that were inside, one of them being the state competition. Therefore, the weather was very relevant to the season.
Indoor track, by its nature, is designed to offer a controlled environment for athletes to compete. However, for the Woodgrove team, that control often did not extend to their training. Multiple practices were canceled, rescheduled, or moved indoors, where athletes faced cramped conditions that limited their ability to train effectively. Senior Skylar Stone shared, “The weather has stopped us from having essential practices that allowed us to prepare more and improve during the season. We did multiple indoor practices that were insufficient, and you are unable to get a proper workout in.” For the athletes, this was especially frustrating. Track may be a team sport, but it is often more about individual performance. Without the correct preparation and space, it became harder for athletes to perform at their best.
In addition to training difficulties, the weather also created significant issues during the actual competition. Senior Athlete Dylan Adu-Osei explained, “Apart from the obvious stuff, like being cold and my muscles just being less ready to perform, the runway which I would jump on would be a lot harder, so I wouldn’t be able to be as bouncy. There was also the pain of landing on hard sand which would kill me as I took each jump.” These challenges hindered their performance and took a physical toll on the athletes, with the added strain of competing in harsh conditions leading to significant wear and tear on their bodies.
For many seniors, this was their final season to set personal records, but the weather made that goal nearly impossible. Senior Leland Ennis explained, “Since it was cold, it made it difficult to practice and get proper preparation. On top of that, it would go into freezing temperatures when competing, which resulted in all of our personal records going down.” As these students competed, they had to accept the fact that no matter how hard they worked, their preparation wasn’t getting them the results they wanted.
Despite all of the hurdles thrown at them, the Woodgrove track team demonstrated impressive resilience. With determination and grit, some of the athletes even made it to the state competition at Liberty University, where they had a final chance to show off what they could do without the weather affecting their performance, as the competition was inside. For these athletes, this indoor track season was more of a preparation of hard work for this upcoming spring season.