On January 25, the Upper School indoor track team began its season. Track, typically known as an outdoor sport, is offered to the Upper School students in the winter season.  This year, the captains of the 20 student team are juniors Lauren Goodman, Graham Silverman, Will Polsky and senior Rebecca Ross.

The team meets five days a week after school, 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm. “It’s a great way to get fit for spring sports, not just track,” Jeremy Aniciete, one of the coaches of the track team, said. “We’ve had people who don’t do track in the spring but another sport, and this season helps them prepare.”

A typical practice will start with a warm-up and stretch, then go into training, and lastly it ends with core and abs. Aniciete said, “We add every aspect of your health or track and field goals into the practice.”

The team has already met success.  “We had a couple of boys doing a great job for the one mile run as well as the two mile run, a female athlete who was great at the long jump, and a female relay team of four by one hundred, all who did really great.” All three of the coaches – Aniciete, Brett Laoruangroch and Salvador Montes – are very excited to see what this year’s team of athletes will excel in, according to Aniciete.

Head of the Athletics Department Bobby Starks said, “The indoor season for track is just as competitive as outdoor.” The team already has seven meets lined up during their season, as compared to around 15 for the outdoor season.

Many Parker students are excited to begin the season and start running again. “I’m excited for this new experience,” Freshman Isabel Bouhl said. “Since I am a freshman this will be my first time participating in an indoor track season at Parker.”

Running outside with the cold weather during the winter gets hard for the athletes. For the indoor season they will practice mostly at Parker, running laps around the third floor and exercising in the workout room.

“Whether it be running the hallways, the gym, using the weight room, or any other resource,” Aniciete said, “we do our best to take advantage of what is given to get better.” Last year the team used Lake Shore Athletic Club and Midtown when working on specific needs.

Currently the coaches are working to find a place relatively close but useful to the track athletes.  “We’re looking at some better facilities,” Starks said. “The tough part about that is those facilities are far away, and the time to get there and back cuts time out of the practice.”

“We’ve done a really good making do with what we are given at Parker,” Aniciete said.

“Running in the hallways, working out in the weight room, and, if the weather is warm, using the track has been a great way to practice.”

Overall the indoor track season looks like it’s off to a great start, Starks notes. “The meets and the events are lined up and ready to go,” he said, “and I’m looking forward to see, for my first time, how our student athletes compete in track and field.”