Plains youngsters hit the track

The annual Plains Elementary Track Day was held under gray skies and a constant drizzle, but that couldn’t spoil the elementary students chance to shine Thursday.

With the Plains High School track team on a bus heading toward state, the kindergartners through fifth-graders their chance to take to the high school field to showcase their track skills and give the large crowd of parents, many huddled under umbrellas on the infield, a glimpse into the future of Plains’ track and field..

“It’s a tradition,” said health enhancement teacher Linda Knight about track day. She said they have been having it as long as she can remember and it is a day the students look forward to all year. Knight said the students start preparing and conditioning for the day weeks in advance. “We practice a lot, so they know what to do when they get out here,” she said.

The conditioning was just enough to get second-grader Jay VonHeeder across the finish line first in the 800-meter run. VonHeeder had to stop several times during the two laps and walk, but he kept looking backwards to make sure he stayed ahead of his competitor. “I couldn’t breath,” VonHeeder said after finishing the race. “That was the furthest I ever ran,” he said. With his face still a shade of purple from running the race, VonHeeder said he didn’t know if he would do it again.

The second-grade 800 was just one of nearly 40 races ran that day. Knight said they started at 9:30 with running a mile and probably wouldn’t finish until 2:30. “It’s a full day,” she said. Knight said they also had four field event: Frisbee, softball, long jump and the high jump. The students had to be signed up for a minimum of three events and a maximum of five. Knight said the students were also required to sign up for a relay. She said which event is popular varies from year to year. “It really depends on the kid,” she said. She said by the time the students reach the fifth-grade, they have a pretty clear idea of what they want to compete in. “When they’re first-graders it takes them 15 minutes to fill out their events, but by the time they’re fifth-graders they can fill it out in under two minutes,” she said.

No matter what event they chose to compete in, they were rewarded for their efforts. “Every kid that competes gets a ribbon,” Knight said. She said they make sure there is six or less atheletes in each event to ensure that everybody gets a ribbon. The biggest winner of the day was 9-year-old Austin Campbell. Not only did Campbell win a ribbon in the Frisbee throw, he also won $2 in the event for playfully hitting one of the eighth-grade judges with the Frisbee. The money was given to Campbell from the other eighth-graders running the event. “I have no clue,” Campbell said, when asked how far he threw the Frisbee. Campbell said he was more interested in hitting the judges. He said the eighth-graders running the events made the day fun.

The eighth-graders were in charge of running all the events and got help from five men from the Masons. Mike Cole, a health enhancement teacher, started each race and Heather Phoenix kept an eye on the finish line. Wendy Starkey called each race as the announcer.