Senior Christopher Trotter, a middle distance track runner, remembers his experience at the State meet last year positively, with the intent of returning to State again this year.

Trotter said his season has been successful so far and getting to run outside provides a benefit.

“(The season is) going good. Most people are healthy. I’m healthy. People are running decently fast,” Trotter said.

Boys’ track head coach Richard Keith said preparing Trotter for the conference, Section and State meets has involved training him hard.

“We’ve kept him out of the 800 most of the season and trained him, kind of over trained him in a sense, making him stronger by having him run a lot of 1600s and 3200s,” Keith said.

Trotter said he believes both he and the team will perform successfully in the conference meet.

“For myself, I expect to win every event I run. For the team, I hope that we win conference,” Trotter said.

Trotter said he should find success at the State meet again this year.

“I definitely want to go to State this year; I expect that of myself,” Trotter said. “State is the most fun. It’s the best meet.”

According to Keith, Trotter finished second place in the 800 at the State meet last year.

Keith said he believes Trotter has the ability to return to State again. 

“If he stays healthy and runs like he’s capable I’m sure he’ll mirror how things went last year with another chance to go to State,” Keith said. “As long as he’s at his pace and does what he is trained to do then he should be fine.”

Having the right mentality and composure can make or break a race, according to Trotter.

“I have to be in the right mindset or I won’t run well,” Trotter aid. “There’s a lot of nerves — don’t be so nervous about it, I guess that’s the biggest thing.”

Trotter said his coaches play an important role in helping him maintain the right mindset.

“They help me with the mind game. That’s usually the biggest part, not overthinking things. You can implode your whole race just if your mindset is not in the right place,” Trotter said.

According to Trotter, the support his family and friends provide also helps with his mentality.

“If I’m feeling down or I had a bad race people will be like ‘oh you’re fine, you’re doing good’ and it’s a good pick-me-up,” Trotter said.

In regard to Trotter’s commitment to run Division I track at the University of Minnesota next year, Keith said Trotter’s athletic abilities push the team to succeed.

“What’s nice about having a Division I athlete on the team is that you make everyone else around you better,” Keith said. “There’s not many opportunities where you get the chance to be working out with a Division I athlete everyday so he pushes the kids, they push him. It makes everybody around him better.”

As a leader on the team, Trotter said assisting other teammates with their running skills benefits him as well.

“Coaching (the other runners) is fun because it shows you what you know,” Trotter said. “Sometimes you’re surprised by how much you know. It’s a good check on yourself.”

The next meet takes place at 1 p.m. May 11 at Wayzata High School. Conference will take place at 3 p.m. May 17 and 18 at Richfield High School; Sections will take place at a to be determined time May 31 and June 2 at Hamline University; State will take place at a to be determined time June 10 and 11 at Hamline University.