There is the popular saying that all things must come to an end at some point. This has happened as the track and field regular season came to an end before districts, Mid-Penns and states begin. During the track and field team’s senior night on April 29 in the South Track, State High athletes shared their thoughts on the season.
Many athletes felt that this was a fulfilling season, including seniors Izabel Sekhon and Zachary Helfen-Wood.
“I felt really good. I felt really connected to my teammates and I felt like I made a lot of progress with them along the way…I had a lot of great performances this season, and I made a lot of new friendships,” Sekhon said.
“It’s been an awesome season…I’ve had a lot of fun. We’ve got a really good team this year, and I’m excited to see what the rest of the season brings,” Helfen-Wood said.
This satisfaction does not come for free though, as athletes put in immense effort during the season.
“Just all season, putting in the work, doing the workouts, doing my lifts. I can try on getting enough sleep, making sure I’m eating enough, hydrated enough,” senior Brooke Shellenberger said.
Senior mid-distance runner Ryan Caldwell and senior long-distance runner Vincent LaFrazza-Schwartz described the variety of exercises they have done, such as the mandatory daily runs.
“Runs every day and varying levels of difficulty, some days will go easier than others, some days we might do some faster portions of the run…[I’ve] been a little tired, but I think I’m embracing a lot, so that’s probably why,” Caldwell said.
“[We run] about 60 miles a week, we have harder run workouts, we have easy runs, we have maintenance runs, just a lot of runs… all types of runs,” LaFrazza-Schwartz said.
The preparation efforts for track can go even further than the regular season, as athletes practice regularly even in the summer.
“I’ll…pick up with some lighter training to keep some retaining to get ready for cross country in the fall,” sophomore Autumn Swisher said.
The State High track team will continue on with the season by preparing for districts, which will happen at Altoona’s Mansion Park on May 12 and 13. Postseason athletes continue to push through with their training and be in their best shape.
“Keep working, I guess, on what I’ve been doing right now has been working, so I’m just gonna do that,” junior Adam Chinn said.
Looking further than the postseason, many senior athletes are glad that they participated in track. Some appreciate track for their improvement in character. This includes senior athletes Seamus Babcock and Sekhon.
“It just made me a better person overall and made me just a better friend, a better brother, brother son, you know, it’s my parents and my sister, and I think it’s just bettered my life in every single possible way,” Babcock said.
“It definitely shaped me into a good leader and gave me some adaptation skills,” Sekhon said.
Some were also grateful for the athletic opportunities that they were able to obtain with the help of track and field.
“I am gonna be running next year in college at Temple…I’m really excited. I’m really thankful for the opportunity to be a college athlete,” Shellenberger said.
“It definitely impacted me for the better because I’m going off to college to play football. I like coming, it’s helping me get faster,” senior Lamar Wilson, a senior football athlete who participates in track as a secondary sport, said.
Additionally, many seniors are emotional about leaving State High Track and Field behind.
“Probably a little bit emotional saying goodbye to some of my younger teammates that I’m gonna miss a lot and one of my last times competing,” Sekhon said.
“It’s still emotional just realizing this time is coming to an end,” Caldwell said. “I’ve been here for four years. This has been such a huge part of my life, all my best friends are runners on the team, and so this isn’t just a sport for me these past four years. It was my whole life, so it’s definitely a little emotional.”
