On Saturday, May 3, in their most recent meet, UPrep boys and girls’ track and field teams placed 17th and 12th, respectively.
UPrep, however, has generally performed well in meets, according to boys track athlete Logan McKay, who participates in the 800m and 1600m events.
“We’ve gotten a lot of PRs, close to the school records, and might break them,” McKay said.
The returning athletes were vital to UPrep’s performance throughout the season, according to Head Coach Kayla Robertson.
“They recognize that the work that they put in in the offseason makes a big difference in how they start their season,” Robertson said. “The returning athletes are doing more challenging work.”
UPrep track and field had several meets in April. March, however, served as a time of preparation for the team. Due to scheduling, the UPrep track and field team had only one meet in March.
“It helps prevent injury,” discus and shot put coach Meg Anderson-Johnston said.
Track and field used its preparation time to develop its young team, made up of mostly 9th and 10th grade students.
“As students get older and have more experience, they don’t want to work on those aspects [the basics] as much, but they’re the most important ones. So it’s really fun to have a team that is starting from scratch and interest
ed in learning the basics and perfecting those. It ultimately leads to them being better,” Anderson-Johnston said.
The UPrep campus lacks key facilities for track and field, such as a ring for throwing practice and a track; as result practices often occur at other schools such as Roosevelt High School.
“I appreciate that they do try and give us opportunities to go to other places, and I hope that we can build a relationship with schools to where we can go to the track more in the future,” Kori Billingslea, track captain, said.
The performance of UPrep track and field is due to the culture of the team, according to Anderson-Johnston.
“We have a team that’s really positive and has a lot of fun and takes it seriously,” Anderson-Johnston said.
