The indoor track and field team, along with Coach Ann Graham, are dedicated to their sport throughout the entire winter and diligently practice as much as possible. From working hard at practices each week to competing at meets throughout the season, the team constantly aims for faster times and higher scores.

“My goal is for [the team] to stay healthy and help meet their goals by qualifying for the state and national championships,” Graham said. “[Also] that those who are developing gain confidence and knowledge of their event so that they can perform better at each meet, and that the team learns how to work together, have fun and win something.”

Graham has high expectations for her team and tries her hardest to make sure that everyone is trained and ready to compete at each meet.  

“My job is to create a training system that will work for each event, and then creatively design workouts that will allow me to get the most out of the athletes even if they don’t want to work hard,” Graham said.  “I have to dedicate myself to be available during holiday breaks, after work hours, weekends, mornings, or whenever time permits me to take up time with an athlete providing extra time to weight lift or use outside resources to help with training.”

Even though some of the practices can be very rigorous, the athletes continue to push themselves to reach their full potential with the helpful guidance of Coach Graham. Junior Veronica Fraley, who competes in the shotput event, admits that practices can be hard, but knows that hard practices lead to improvement.

“She is always there making up our workouts, even if they’re hard workouts, they’re always for our benefit and we all know that she is there to help us,” Fraley said.

Track and field consists of both team and individual events that require the athletes to know how to work together as a team and how to motivate themselves.

“If you’re doing a relay, you have to count on your team to pull their weight, but if you’re running by yourself then you have to know how to warm up and stretch individually,” senior long distance runner Anthony Tripp said.

Traveling to meets and cheering each other on from the sidelines has allowed the team to form a close bond.

“We do everything together when we aren’t competing in our own events,” Fraley said. “When we go to the meets, we all go together and support each other.”

Cheering on teammates allows the athletes to feel supported while competing in their events, and creates a fun and exciting atmosphere.

“We cheer each other on, and if we do poorly, we try to keep ourselves up,” sophomore pole vaulter Tommy Keech said. “Coach Graham also cheers us on a lot more than the rest of us do and that’s pretty important.”

Being on the track and field team has also taught some of the athletes important life lessons and skills.

“I’ve learned to keep trying even when things get hard and to continue to do what you’re doing,” Fraley said.

In the end, Coach Graham and the athletes feel that no matter the times or the scores, the most important thing is that they enjoy what they do.

“I like running and I like my teammates, so I guess running with my teammates and knowing I can count on them is the best part about being on the track and field team,” Tripp said.

The team will continue to strive for greatness through the rest of the season led by Coach Graham, who always has the best interests of her athletes at heart.