The Plainfield East boys track team is getting ready to close out the season with a bang with their recent conference meet.

Before they can do well at meets, they have to practice the necessary skills.

The track team practices almost every day to prepare for these events with specific rotations of focus throughout the week. 

“We have a sprints/ jumps group, a distance group, and a throws group so they all have activities,” said Michael Adamson, boys track coach.

“We do a lot of warming up, a lot of stretches, a little lap around the track. Sometimes we’ll do sprinting days, sometimes we’ll do block starts, sometimes we work on mobility, and then some days we’re in the weight room,” said Chima Adibe, senior.

A schedule like this makes it so the team is well-rounded in all aspects that are important to track. A lot goes into being successful in the sport, so practices structured like this are beneficial.

The team follows this schedule to ensure their success in later meets.

Physical skill isn’t the only attribute that’s needed for a successful team, creating an uplifting environment will also ensure the success of the team.

“It’s very uplifting, there’s good people on the track team that make it the track team. Those people make the track team, that’s why we like it,” said Ifeatu Chukwurah, senior.

It’s up to the coach to help build an environment for the team to thrive in. “Kids coming together, it’s kind of an individual sport but we make it a team sport. Those kids come together and work to achieve a team goal,” said Adamson.

Adamson provides a strong and reliable environment for the team to thrive in. “The kids build the relationships among themselves, learning that they are accountable, they need to cheer on their teammates to build that culture” said Adamson.

Track is a sport about sportsmanship and collaboration between teammates. The team must come together to support each other.

The team is very big on supporting each other on both minor and major accomplishments.

Meets are very important for the track team. They provide the space to test yourself (and the team) against others. Meets are very hectic, with a lot of other teams competing in them.

 “It’s very crowded, a lot of stuff going on. Especially indoors right now, there’s a lot of teams there,” said Adibe, “It’s very hectic just because there’s so much going around.”

The team just recently competed in their conference meet at Lewis University and had a thrower and a jumper place.