Max Bucksbaum

Spring has rolled around (sort of) and the Track team is off to a quick start.  This year, the athletes and coaching staff are better than ever.  In the past, Latin has had trouble getting coaches for the jumping, hurdling and throwing events; this year, however, co-head coaches Dan Daly and Angie Bezdek have brought on a whole host of others to help out, making this season look quite promising.  Here’s a more in depth preview of each discipline:

Distance:  The distance runners, led by head coaches Dan Daly and Angie Bezdek, are looking strong this season. The girls have 3 of the 4 runners on the state 4×800 team returning as well as two other runners returning in the 1600 and 3200 meter run.  The boys team has two state athletes returning in the 1600 and 800 meter run.  After a great Cross Country season, many athletes trained through the winter to keep their fitness up for track season.  In addition to the seasoned runners, some new and promising faces have joined the squad from every grade level.

Sprinting:  Coach Michelle and coach Tristan return as sprinting coaches and bring along a new member, David Alex, who will focus on the hurdling events.  The girl’s team returns one hurdler who made it down to state last year while the boys are returning no state sprinters.  The boys team has a few athletes in good shape from the basketball season as do the girls.  There are also new additions to the team, both under and upperclassmen, who could put together a solid boys 4×400 relay with some help from the distance runners.  The girls team will piece together a nice 4×100 and 4×200 relay team with the speed they have.  With all the talent on the sprinting squad coupled with the knowledgeable coaches, don’t be surprised to see some big things come from this years sprinters.

Jumping:  This year, the Track team is bringing on Coach Scott, who focuses on the jumping events.  This will be one of the first years the team has had a coach strictly dedicated to the jumpers.  The girls team is returning one jumper who made it state while the boys team has no returners.  Latin has limited access to a long jump pit and high jump landing which makes it difficult for the jumpers to practice.  This year that might change.  Rumor has it that Latin will have access to Parker’s long jump pit and a new high jump landing could be on the way.  If the team gets these necessary resources, some already good jumpers could become great.

Throwing:  While Latin is not usually known for its throwing prowess, this year the tides could change. Coach Jackson returns to the throwing team after a brief hiatus last season.  Despite not having a full time throwing coach last year, a girl was able to make it down to state in the discus toss.  With Mr. Jackson’s experience there is no telling what both the boys and girls throwers are capable of when they get some more attention.

That is all for track preview.  Overall this year’s coaching staff is the best it has ever been and there are some really promising athletes in every discipline on both the boys and girls side.  Look for more good news to come after spring break once the racing starts!  Notable Dates:  Boys and Girls conference: 5/10/14 Boys sectionals on 5/23/14.  Boys State on 5/29-31/14, Girls Sectionals on 5/15/14. Girls state 5/22-24/14.