Red Devils overcome conditions

NOXON – Even as the track field sat in an unusable state, with mud piled inches high, the conditions of the track were not enough to stop the Red Devil Track and Field team from starting off their season.

Practices kicked off on Monday, March 17 and so far numbers look promising for the team. This year has seen an increase in numbers and the team saw a spike of eight kids this year. With 23 athletes in all, the team is at a healthy place.

According to Head Coach Matt Havens, the leaders of the pack are expected to be the seven returning athletes. The group knows what needs to be accomplished and also knows the ins and outs of the sport.

“We are looking at all the returning athletes to lead us daily, showing the new athletes what high school track is about,” Coach Havens said.

The team has been busy preparing for their first track meet, which will take place on April 3 at the Jim Johnson Alberton meet in Missoula. With a short amount of time before their first meet, the kids have a lot to accomplish before then.

Right now the athletes have been working on conditioning and have been utilizing the high school gym for their practices. After kicking off with a variety of different drills, the track team partook in some yoga to help stretch their bodies out.

As Assistant Coach Teri Wilkinson and each athlete grabbed a towel and a yoga mat, they followed a video walking them through the art of yoga. As the kids followed the directions presented to them, they furthered their flexibility – something that could be key to some of the track events.

Not only are the kids conditioning physically, but Coach Havens said they were also conditioning mentally.

With a lot of new kids on the team, the athletes have a lot to learn. Part of that will be figuring out what event they are best at.

“We have so many kids new to the sport that it will take three or four meets to see which events our athletes will focus on,” Havens said.

Once the students figure out what their specialty is, they will be able to hone in on that skill – further improving it. Until then, they have the opportunity to experiment with the different events.

It is of great importance for the kids to be placed in the right event. This will help dictate how the team as a whole does at track meets.

For now, the athletes will continue exploring the sport, while the veterans work hard to further themselves.

“We are looking to that first meet in Missoula to see where we are and where we need to get to. We, as coaches, are always looking to get better week in and week out,” Coach Havens said.

With hard work and dedication, the athletes will find their particular spot on the team and improve on a day-to-day basis.