This week, Park hosted their first track meet in five years. After reconstructing the track and field ground last summer and this school year, the success of the remodel has been shown in Park’s first meet this spring. Park’s girls won their meet against other competing high schools, while the boys finished in fourth place.
According to senior Sam Pliner, the success he has had over this track season comes down to the track coaches at Park who he said have been an amazing support system for him throughout this season.
“This season I performed really well,” Pliner said. “Being able to hit two PR times in two separate race events has been a great feeling, which goes out to all my track coaches who’ve been able to help me grow and get better throughout the season, and with help of better facilities that the track program has to offer.”
According to senior Daniel Zilka, what he loves most about track is that it doesn’t need to rely on pure talent but is more of a social sport. Track is a place where you are able to improve at your events, while also being able to make new friends.
“I like it because it doesn’t involve any kind of pure talent, effort or training. I like to think of track as more of a social sport,” Zilka said. “You’ll run for like 12 seconds, and then you can talk to your friends and hangout until you wait for your next race. It’s very laid back compared to a lot of other sports, which is why I love track so much.”
Assistant track and field coach Chris Nordstrom said he is very pleased with the new track field and how it is used as a facility for the track team.
“For those who were out there, they saw the facility and how great it looks now. It’s long overdue. Our track and facility have been pretty beat up for many years,” Nordstrom said. “It’s definitely nice to have a facility that’s able to host meets and be able to have staff and students support our track athletes during their meets that are hosted here at Park.”
Pliner said being able to host track meets at Park is a really good feeling. He said running at a meet hosted at Park made him feel more comfortable, and was one of the reasons he did so well in his events throughout the meet.
“Feels really good. It’s a lot more practical, and having to travel to places can be kind of annoying, so being able to just run a meet right after school and just walk to the track field feels a lot more comfortable,” Pliner said. “I feel much less nervous from running because I am at a place that I am familiar with.”
Zilka said this new renovation for the track field that allows Park to host meets is amazing for up and coming track runners. He said being able to run at their own high school can be really nice compared to having to travel to far places to run meets.
“Some of the pros of being able to host meets at Park is that it gives the younger generation of track runners a chance to be able to run meets at their own facilities,” Zilka said. “That’s really cool, because we didn’t have that for a long time. It’s really nice when you can run a meet at your own school and not have to drive to far places to run meets.”
Nordstrom said this meet was one of the better ones that his runners have had so far this track season. According to Nordstrom, progression and pushing for these track runners to be in the best condition possible is very important when it comes time in May for the championship season.
“Overall it was one of our better days of the season. A lot of kids got season best or personal bests throughout the meet. The kids really just came out and showed,” Nordstrom said. “We really progress to be at our best in May. We’re just getting stronger and faster when it comes time for the championship season.”
Park’s next track meet is May 1 at the University of Minnesota.
