By Katie Servas – Editor-in-Chief

The Jonathan Law High School indoor track team is racing for those school records.

This past week, the boy’s indoor track team was invited to run at The Armory in New York for a chance to compete at Nationals. The highlight of the trip was the boy’s sprint medley relay team of Shane Pritchard, Liam Fedigan, Gabe Garnett, and Jack Bretthauer, who broke the school record with a time of 3.44.29.

The preparation for this meeting involved team building and setting goals to achieve throughout the season.

“My goal for the season is to be the best leader that I can be,” said junior captain Jack Bretthauer. “Whether that is helping organize things or guiding kids on how a meet works, I just want everyone to have a fun season that can run smoothly (no pun intended).”

This year’s team by new head coach Frank Gaines, who takes over for longtime indoor track coach Mr. Beler. Beler made the decision earlier this year to step down as indoor track coach due to family obligations.

A handful of captains this season are seniors who are competing for the last time with the team. Many of them have set goals for themselves as well as the team collectively. 

“This season I am most excited to try new things and watch the team grow and have success together,” said senior captain Aislinn Burns. “I am excited to watch the hard work pay off for our athletes and I am also excited to try to get personal records throughout the season as well as make sure I am a reliable and hardworking captain to set an example for the rest of the team and be there for others if they need anything.”

The team includes both boys and girls who compete in events such as sprinting, long distance, shot put, long jump, pole vault, and more. 

There are many events to compete which allows flexibility for athletes who want to try new events. 

“It’s cool being a captain on a big team, and my goal for the season is to make nationals for the SMR and the 55-meter dash,” said senior captain Gabe Garnett. “My other goal is to help younger athletes on the team get better at outdoors or other sports they play.”

Many of the members of the team compete with multiple teams at Jonathan Law as well as some outside of the school. With practices continuing throughout the winter, there is a lot of flexibility with times and scheduling to allow as many athletes to participate as possible. 

These practices have been rewarding for senior captains who have seen growth with younger athletes who are new to the sport.

“Being a captain is very rewarding,” said senior captain Kalli Kinsman. “It’s kind of a full-circle moment for me because I looked up to my captains as a freshman and now I get to help coach the current freshmen so it’s really cool especially since I want to see them get better with every practice and every meeting.”

Though there are multiple senior captains, there are a few junior captains stepping up to lead and support the team.

“I am most excited about how much we are going to accomplish on the track,” said junior captain JT Nelly. “I am very confident in my sprinter’s abilities to perform and represent our team and my  goals for this season are to win the 4×2 at states and to break the school record for a long jump.”

The boy and girls indoor track team is projected to have a record-breaking season as well as many new personal records.