When the weather becomes too cold to train outdoors, many of Worthington Kilbourne’s track and field athletes don’t use that as an excuse to take the winter off. Instead, they move their training inside and compete in Kilbourne’s indoor track and field program.
Despite its achievements, the program is mostly under the radar because it is not recognized by the OHSAA, or the Ohio High School Athletic Association. This means the program is not officially sponsored and does not hold a formal state championship. There is, however, an indoor state championship for high schools in Ohio organized by the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches that indoor programs are able to compete in, WKHS being one of them. Still, indoor track and field is more than just a way to stay in shape during the winter and even though the season is wrapping up, it is a commitment that deserves more recognition.
To get a closer look into the training process, The Ravine spoke with three of Kilbourne’s indoor track athletes, sophomore Tyler Kern, sophomore Ellie Wheatley, and senior Payton Shrom.
The indoor track team practices three times a week, which Kern says “consist mostly of mechanic based drills” where athletes focus on “running form, rhythm, and plyos.” After warming up, the team splits into smaller groups so athletes can train for their specific event or events. Wheatley, who competes in long jump, explains that she works on “mechanics and box related things to help with [her] takeoff and jumping,” before the team finishes practice with some lifting.
“Our indoor meets are held at colleges all around Ohio,” Kern says, adding that they “can be very very crowded,” especially at the larger competitions. Shrom explained that there aren’t “dual track meets like there are in outdoor,” so athletes typically arrive on their own “with enough time to warm up for [their] event.” Wheatley added that “indoor runs the same as an outdoor meet, but there are some differences” in the events offered. For example, indoor track does not include the “4x100m relay and instead of the 100m dash, it holds a 60m or 55m dash.” Despite the crowdedness of the indoor meets, Kern points out that the “upside is that they are weather controlled since [they] are under a roof,” as opposed to outdoor track which can face many weather-related challenges.
Though the indoor season is coming to a close, Kern, Wheatley, and Shrom all agree that the indoor program plays a big role in their love for the sport and their success in the outdoor season. Kern shares that his “favorite thing about indoor track is the community and making new friends” and how he is able to “get to know people a whole lot more and hangout with them way more than [he] would outside of track.” Participating in indoor track and field can also mean reaching long term goals. For Shrom, she strived to “try something new like triple jump and PR in triple jump,” both of which she was able to achieve.
The Ravine wishes the team the best of luck in their upcoming outdoor season and congratulates the indoor track athletes on all of their achievements, whether that be personal goals or team recognitions. Make sure to get out and support our WKHS track and field wolves sometime this season!
