With over seventy athletes on the roster, indoor track is one of the most popular sports at Towson High School. It is commonly seen as a training season, with many spring athletes using it to get in shape for sports like lacrosse, outdoor track, or baseball. Despite many athletes participating in indoor track as a training season, the runners for Towson are very committed to giving it their best, to improving their past performances, and to paving the way for future success.

Indoor track began its season on November 17^th, where runners were greeted by an ironic surprise. Indoor track may have “indoor” in its name, but that is slightly misleading. While the meets may be indoors (generally held at the Fifth Regiment Armory and PG Sports & Learning Complex), the practices, with the exception of insane weather, are held outside throughout the winter season. Senior shot-putter, Miles Stroman, remarked, “student-athletes come out to run and they think they’re going to be inside all the time and they end up being outside freezing. It’s pretty ironic.” Coaches Stange, Malloy, and Kirschenbaum require that runners bring both cold weather and warm weather gear to practice so they are ready for either running outside on the cold track or inside through the hallways. Surprisingly, many runners, like Vaughn Parts, enjoy running outside: “it feels refreshing, I’m better at running in the winter. I can run faster because I can breathe more easily… but I hate it when my nose gets runny.” Regardless of the weather, the Indoor Track team finds ways to get practices in so that they can put out their best performance on the Track in the 2014-2015 season.

Outdoor track is commonly considered the more serious and competitive sport compared to indoor, but that doesn’t stop runners from aiming for great success in the winter season. Junior distance runner Johanna Admiraal, says, “we really want to win Regional’s this year” and “I really want to break the school record for the two mile.” Both are lofty goals for Johanna, but she and the other runners are up to the challenge.

Track may seem like an individualized sport, with runners each focusing on their specific events; however, it still takes a whole team to win a meet, and the camaraderie between runners on the team is very high. Sprinter Tochi Okeke stated, “we get along well. We all try to cheer each other on, encourage each other, and give each other help and advice.” Meets commonly last up to six hours, so having good relationships with teammates is imperative for the athletes to maintain a positive vibe at these long meets.

Indoor track may not be the most pleasant sport at Towson with its long meets and freezing practices, but the work the team is putting in now will surely pay off when it comes to the championship meets in January and February. With a plethora of talented athletes, the Generals should be able to put out some great performances and rack up many victories this season.