Track trusts in True Team
Numerous athletes participate in unique meet
May 11, 2023
Along with competing in normal track and field meets, Park’s track and field team competes in special championship meets called true team meets.
True Team meets offer the unique opportunity for every athlete in an event to score points and contribute to their teams overall score. The Orioles ran against 10 teams and came out in fifth place with 640 points for the boys team and seventh place with 482.5 points for the girls team on May 9.
According to assistant coach Jenny Dillon, the distinctive scoring of True Team meets allows the Orioles to feel more connected as a team.
“True Team is a unique meet where every athlete who runs in an event, throws or jumps gets a point,” Dillon said. “It’s much more about the depth of the team and less about individual athletic performances. That’s different (from) a lot of the meets that we’re at. It’s fun to get people cheering for everyone and (have) more of a team vibe.”
The Orioles’ most recent meet was a championship meet. Sophomore Amara Schroeder said she feels championships mean more because they provide more challenging competition.
“It means more because it is like a championship meet,” Schroeder said. “The teams are really good, and the other competitors are really good as well.”
Track is an individual sport, but True Team is all about teams and not individuals.
— Ronan Guevera
According to junior Ronan Guevera, True Team meets not only offer competition in terms of teams, but in pushing athletes and teams further.
“It adds some more competition. We get to go against other schools that we don’t usually get to go against,” Guevera said. “But mainly it just makes me more competitive because every athlete actually means something. It’s a chance for me to be more like a team player. Track is an individual sport, but True Team is all about teams and not individuals.”
According to Dillon, True Team gives athletes a motivation to go the extra mile in their events.
“(True Team) gives them more of a reason to be finishers and fight for every single spot out on the track,” Dillon said. “Whether it’s getting an extra few inches in a jump or throw, or trying to outrun every athlete, every place matters.”
Schroeder said despite her start, she felt content with her race and said starting strong is important to having a successful race.
“I feel pretty good. My start was definitely not the best,” Schroeder said. “The start gets you going for the race and that’s definitely the most important thing.”
Guevera said he had high hopes for the meet and was eager to support the team.
“It’s going to be great. I’m really excited to watch the events, especially the relays and support everyone,” Guevera said.
According to Schroeder, the team is struggling from lack of athletes due to injuries and hopes to have more successful meets in the future.
“A lot of people are injured so we don’t have our whole team here,” Schroeder said. “It’s going to be tough to get a high score and a higher place (overall), but we can definitely do good from here on out.”
Dillon said the transition into championship season is a time for the athletes’ hard work to pay off.
“As we’re transitioning into championship meet season, it’s more about the work our kids have put in. (They) have gone through a lot of conditioning the last couple of months and this gets to be the fun part,” Dillon said. “We are getting some final technique work in, enjoying the rest of the season, getting ready to run fast and have some more tapering at the end of the season.”
Girls’ varsity takes on a meet at 1:15 p.m. May 17 at Chaska High School.
