There is a common goal for both the boys’ and girls’ track teams: staying healthy.
The boys’ track team has two of its top sprinters out with hamstring injuries: Junior Cody Muhlbaur and Senior Ty’Quawn Page.
“[I am] taking it one day at a time,” Cody Muhlbauer explained.
Most of the team also plays football, which has led to some past injuries. However, injuries early in the indoor season are not affecting this season’s potential.
“We train to peak [during] outdoor,” Page said.
The confidence is very high that these athletes will be among the top in the state.
The girls’ team is also navigating a wave of illness ahead of the conference meet next week. This has forced head coach Greg Rodgers to look into the upcoming athletes.
“We are stronger, and our depth is bigger [than last year],” Rodgers stated.
Additionally, the team is looking to fill a role in the 4×200 relay due to the injury of Sophomore Cecilia Castro.
Another goal for both teams is to break multiple school records. The boys’ team is already on its way to crushing this goal set earlier in the season.
“We have had four school records broken this season already, with only a quarter of the team healthy,” Senior Alex Carter said.
Notable records include Junior Damir Harris in the 400m dash and Sophomore Jalen Bishop in the high hurdles.
“[The 400m] was the oldest record here at West on the boys’ indoor team,” Head Boys’ Coach Brack stated.
Senior Julie Bach looks to break multiple records for indoor and outdoor.
“I would love to break my 800m and 1600m records for indoor and outdoor,” Julie Bach replied.
Both teams have high expectations and look to make history at Normal West.
The leadership from both Programs does not go unnoticed. Alex Carter, Ty’Quawn Page, and Julie Bach are all focused on keeping the teams unified while also balancing fun and hard work.
“The reason why they are leaders is because of their work ethic; they’re very hard workers. They do everything that you ask, they look to improve.” head boys coach Rici Coach Brack said.
Coach Rogers emphasizes that even with the immense talent that the underclassmen bring, the upperclassmen have been bringing the hard work, earning them much hardware.
“But we have a mix of some upperclassmen talent, we have Julie Bach, Renee Warren, Amanda Warren, who are our senior leaders on the distant side, who have put in tremendous work, and accolades and records into our program,” Rogers said.
Rogers is excited for what the next few months hold for Wildcat girls track and field.
With both upper and underclassmen bringing the grit they had last year into this year, while the freshmen are coming in confident.
“We have our upperclassmen that are leading the way. We’re returning most of our state-qualifying athletes from last year. Then we’ve had some freshmen come in that have made some noise.” Rogers stated.
Similarly, the Boys side also relies on the “young core” who have been competing at the highest level since their freshman year.
“I think the young core of the group is the best part of the team,” Page said.
The culture coming from both programs has a big impact on the overall success.
Even if the cultures are different.
The Boys team uses their humorous competitive “chippiness” in practice to push each other.
“You could also call us a team of hard workers, but at the same time, we balance out the fun part of this, so I would call this a team of hardworking trolls.” Page continued.
“But we try to keep it a positive scenery, making sure everybody’s having fun while they’re doing [hard work] at the same time.”
The boys also emphasize that while they may butt heads at some points, it is to push them to be their best by ‘meet days.’
“A lot of very competitive athletes that, at times, butt heads, like me and Ty every once in a while, we butt heads, despite being pretty good friends. And again, it’s just nothing personal. It’s a lot of very competitive dudes that you would rather see in practice than during a meet,” Senior Alex Carter said.
For the girls, there comes a sense of chemistry throughout the team. Having individual goals that can be worked on together through the people you come to practice with.
“Everyone’s always cheering for each other, whether they’re running in a meet or doing a hard workout, everyone is always there for each other,” Sophomore Ryan Temples stated.
This environment pushes the team every day to be better than the day prior.
“But our team, we’re very ambitious. We all have goals, and we’re able to work towards those goals together, and the team chemistry is great. I come to practice every day. wanting to go, not only because I love the sport, but also because I love the people,” senior distance runner, Julie Bach continued.
“And it’s great when you can work towards goals together as a team and accomplish them together. And even if you had a bad race, you still had a good day because you love the people that you’re around.”
Coach Rogers brings in another side of a “team aspect,” the bigger purpose.
“I want our athletes to feel like we’re working towards a bigger purpose rather than just our individual goals. It’s great to have our individual goals, but for us to feel like we’re working together towards those higher goals of that, team conference wins, or those state-qualifying athletes, those all-state awards, it is really something special,” Rogers said.
Both teams will compete in the Big12 championship meet next week. The girls will head to the Shirk Center on Monday, March 16, and the boys will follow on March 17.
