The preliminary sections kicked off with bangs as track athletes showcased their endurance on May 28. Several competitors shattered personal bests, setting an exciting tone for the upcoming finals. With records already falling, anticipation is high for what’s to come.
Assistant track and field coach Chris Nordstrom said it was crucial to have everyone focused on the winning aspect this late into the season.
“Overall, we had a lot of really good performances — being in sections is kind of our last goal, and having our kids peaked and ready is super important,” Nordstrom said. “Pretty much everybody that competed was locked in.”
Junior Cordell Birden said his strategy to success is keeping a healthy diet and not worrying about the competition. He said his main goal is to enjoy the sport and he has high hopes for the team in their upcoming track meet.
“I just eat healthy and don’t really think about it,” Birden said. “I just have fun and I am really excited to see what we do at Thursday’s meet.”
Junior Nora Lindeman said the moral support had a great impact on the runners and many got new personal records.
“Everyone was cheering for each other and no one was really not feeling it,” Lindeman said. “A lot of people got PRs (Personal Records). I got a season PR, and we all did really well.”
Nordstrom said he wanted to draw attention to Birden who broke the school record in the 200-meter dash, which hasn’t been broken for a while.
“I would shout out Cordell Birden. In the 200 meters, he broke a 20-year-old school record,” Nordstrom said. “He ran 21.96, and the school record was 22.00, so it was awesome to beat a school record off that board.”
Birden said even with injuries that set him back both mentally and physically, he was still able to put out a performance he was proud of.
“Most of the season I’ve been injured, so I’ve only ran like three times. I could have done better, of course, if I didn’t get injured,” Birden said. “But for what I did, I feel like I did good.”
Lindeman said she used her personal experiences and kept a steady run instead of using her energy at the beginning.
“I ran a really smart race. Everyone went out really, really fast, and I just held my pace the whole first lap, and then maintained that for the whole race and I ended up running really well,” Lindeman said.
Park’s next track meet is at 4 p.m. May 30 at Armstrong High School.
