Quincey Reese, Staff Writer

For some student-athletes, the winter sports season is a time to “recover” from a fall sport or to prepare for the spring season.  One club sport at Penn-Trafford, indoor track, combines these two philosophies, welcoming athletes not only looking to compete seriously but also those who wish to stay in shape for a spring sport.

Contrary to the name of the sport, indoor track athletes almost always practice outside, only competing indoors. They meet three times a week: on Monday, Thursday and Friday. During these times, students perform a variety of workouts based on the event they wish to train or compete in.

Indoor track coach Paul Conrad has been managing the sport at P-T for 10 years.  He said he creates the workouts for sprinters, distance runners, throwers and hurdlers.  Those who are interested in competing in long, triple or high jump, pole vault and even some throwing events often devise their own workouts based on what they feel they need to work on.

“Often times, the jumpers, pole vaulters and throwers know more about their events than I do,” Conrad said. “I know a general synopsis of their events, but they have more knowledge on the technical side of things which gives them a better idea of how they need to be training,”

When Conrad feels it is too cold for his students to practice outside, they sometimes use the Warrior Center and now the newly-added fitness center.  Here, athletes can run on the treadmills, use the other cardio machines or lift weights.

“I like having the use of the fitness center.  We have always had the Warrior Center which has lifting machines and free weights, but only have a few treadmills,” Conrad said. “I used to have runners use the hallway from the athletic office to where the preschool room used to be, but now we can run in the fitness center instead.”

Conrad added he receives permission from track coach Karen Skandera to use a few hurdles for the hurdlers to work on the technique of their events, and pole vaulters will even go to Norwin and Baldwin high schools to train.

Some days, when there is snow on the ground, Conrad allows his athletes to complete a “snowball relay” as part of their practices.  In this relay, students hand-off a snowball to one another instead of a baton, and if the snowball breaks they have to make a new one before continuing with the race.  This is a way Conrad tries to incorporate fun into a workout.

“I realize it’s not always going to be fun when it’s 10 degrees outside to go out and run, so if we can make it fun, we do,” Conrad said.

For practices, some athletes will focus on distance runs, interval workouts, hills, sprints, weight training and/or sets of drills to improve in their particular event.

After a period of only training, meets begin to come about among the regular practices.  Almost all of the meets are on Saturdays, so athletes arrive at the school at 6:30 a.m. and return home between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. depending on which events they compete in that particular day. Since there are not any local indoor tracks, the team has to travel around two-and-a-half hours away for each meet.

Sometimes there are approximately 85 schools and 2,000 athletes in attendance at the meets, which makes for a long day.  Conrad added that some students may have up to five hours between events.

Senior long and triple jumper Ethan Olson said he enjoys the meets, but understands how they take a large amount of time out of the weekend.

“I go to as many meets as I can, but a lot of them get cancelled because of the weather.  They are fun, but it is definitely a long day with a lot of down time between events,” Olson said. “We leave the school at 6:30 in the morning and come back home at about 9 at night, so we’re pretty exhausted by the end of the meets.”

Each year, the meets are held at similar places.  Some of these include Kent State, Akron, Youngstown, Marietta, Edinboro and Penn State.  Shot putters, high jumpers and pole vaulters also have the chance to compete at Hempfield High School.

Although many of the events in indoor track are the same as outdoor track, there are a few differences due to the size constraints.  The 100 meter dash and 110 meter hurdles in outdoor track, for example, trade places with the 60 meter dash and 60 meter hurdles.  Other changes include the additions of the 3,000 meter run and distance medley relay.

Conrad said there is a widespread range of competition at meets.  There are athletes competing for state titles, but also ones that are freshmen or beginners to the sport.

Senior distance runner Lindsay Johnston said she has not gone to many of the meets since a fair amount of them were cancelled, but she was pleased with the ones she did attend.

“The meets are really interesting.  It is a completely different atmosphere from outdoor track,” Johnston said. “Everyone is in one big room and all kinds of events are going on at one time.  They’re a fun and unique experience.”

This year, there are 25 students signed up for the sport.  Some of these athletes will only attend practices to stay in shape, but some have plans to make it to the state meet. Conrad said senior runner Nick Wagner, who placed eighth at states last year, is aiming towards a third place spot this season.

Despite the harsh conditions indoor track athletes will face, Conrad said it can be enjoyable and the weather is not as big of an issue as it may seem.

“Indoor track can be a fun sport,” Conrad said. “To me, it’s tough to go outside and run in the cold, but it won’t kill you.  You just have to dress for the weather and have fun when you can.”