Track and Field Update

Alana Gomez, Sports Editor

January 20, 2016

The Dreyfoos track and field team warms up with an exercise called burpees. The team has been conditioning since Jan. 12. “It’s a lot more intense than last year,” vocal senior Jacob Crossey said. “We do a lot of strength exercises more than running in practice.”

The girls and boys track and field season has begun. To prepare for upcoming meets and events, students have been conditioning on the Dreyfoos soccer field at 4:00 p.m. everyday since Jan. 12. The practices, which run until 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, focus on vigorous running exercises and stretches in order to help both newcomers and previous team members get into shape.

“First they will warm up, then stretch, then we do the work out,” Social studies teacher and athletic director Ross Vening said. “It’s different everyday. We have done intervals, ladder drills, lunges all the way around the field, and burpees.”

This year the team was able to accept a new addition in their coach Mr. Vening. Although new to the Dreyfoos athletics program, Mr. Vening is nothing short of familiar with high school sports. At his previous teaching job at Forest Hill High School, Mr. Vening coached track and field, cross country, wrestling, and soccer.

In addition to their new coach, the track and field team has a new location for practices. In the past, when the team had weekday practice, they would alternate between the Dreyfoos campus and the Roosevelt Middle School track. This season the athletes will be traveling to Forest Hill High School on the days they do not practice at Dreyfoos.
“We’re going to try and go every Tuesday and Thursday,” Mr. Vening said. “It starts next week and we [will have] a carpool with parents [for traveling].”

The reason for the change in location is because Roosevelt Middle School’s track is asphalt, a material known to give runners injuries, such as shin splints. By traveling to Forest Hill High School, the track and field team will have access to the school’s rubber track as well as their equipment and facilities.

This year’s conditioning after school has seen a large turnout from students of all grades at Dreyfoos. As practices continue, more people begin to join the Dreyfoos athletes outside in the chilly air to participate as part of the team.

“[At] the first conditioning there were 23 or so [students],” Mr. Vening said. “As of [Tuesday] there were 48.”

Donate to THE MUSE

$75

$5000

Contributed

Our Goal

Your donation will support the student journalists of Dreyfoos School of the Arts. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

About the Contributor

Alana Gomez, Assistant Managing Editor

Communications senior Alana Gomez is a third-year staffer and Assistant Managing Editor on The Muse. Apart from her love for journalism, Gomez also writes nonfiction and fiction stories in her spare time. She enjoys reading and history class almost as much as she does writing because it is both an escape from reality and a great learning experience. Gomez is the vice president of Key Club, a community outreach coordinator for National Honor Society, and is involved in many other in-school activities. Other than her many school clubs, Gomez is also a sports fanatic, and has played flag-football for 10 years. Gomez enjoys music ranging from classic rock to Biggie Smalls, and powerful quotes and Steve Carell are usually enough to cheer her up on a bad day. She also keeps a special place in her heart for everything sci-fi, fantasy, and comic book, a love established by her father and his geeky influence. Gomez is still figuring out her future but she knows that no matter where she ends up in life, she will never stop writing.