In preparation for the first meet next Saturday, track and field is starting up practices again. The team already consists of almost 100 girls and more from soccer, basketball and softball will be joining soon.

“I’m very excited about this season and the upcoming competitions,” track coach Colin Sully said.  “We have a great group of over 70 girls.”

Afternoon practices just started for girls participating in sprint, hurdle, jump and mid distance. Additionally, the coaches have added afternoon throw practices for girls this year.

“[Throw practices] should make a huge difference in our performance in those events,” Sully said. “The afternoon practices are unique in that there are some elements that we all do together and then we break up and work on specific track or field events.”

Even though some students say the track practices are more difficult this year, they also agree that it will benefit the team in the long run.

“I definitely think the workouts are harder than they’ve ever been this year,” junior Brandon Stelling said. “As one of the long distance runners, I can see that coach Sully has put a lot more pressure on us. He’s pushed us further and further every single day and we don’t get any easy day, we just go full speed.”

Members on the team said they look forward to the upcoming season as they have more spirit than last year. Stelling said being a part of the team is like being part of another family and teammates always encourage one another.

“As far as I’ve seen we have had the best spirit we’ve ever had,” Stelling said. “We had a great cross country year which helped bring us together quite a bit. I think our team has a lot of spirit this year.”

Sully is hopeful to place in the team’s first meet next Saturday. He also hopes to get every member on the team in shape this week without injury.

“We have been very successful in distance and high jump in the past and I’m confident that we becoming more powerful in several other disciplines,” Sully said. “To be a successful track and field team at the State level you need to be able to compete (and hopefully score) in all events.”