Emma Tyser

Sophomores Candice Dondon and Jada Starr-Austin practice their start on the blocks in preparation for meet day.

The RM Winter Track team has had many achievable accomplishments over the past couple of years, with several runners competing in county, regional, as well as state championship meets. With county championships being this past Tuesday, Jan. 23, many RM athletes were invited to compete, including captains seniors Zaki Ahmad and Grace Finnegan. This year, the state indoor track championships will be held on Feb. 20 to 21 at Prince George’s Sports & Learning Complex in Landover, MD.

However, this year has caused much hassle for these track athletes and coaches. At the beginning of the winter sports season, the Prince George’s Sports & Learning Complex, where RM usually attends indoor track meets, was shut down for renovations due to the track being worn down after several events were held there. This meant that some of the track meets were being held tens of miles away from RM, making the commuting process complicated for many of these athletes and attendees.

This incident has influenced the number of track meets the RM team has been able to compete in. “Last year we had 10 [track meets], and only one got canceled,” indoor track head coach Anthony Woods said. “This year we’ve only had three track meets, with our first track meet in December, and our practices starting in November.” 

In addition to this unfortunate occurrence, there have been several cancellations of track meets not only in Maryland but in other states as well, due to the significant amounts of snowfall, as well as the freezing temperatures felt throughout the country. “As far as other teams in the county, they are dealing with the same issues we are, especially if they had their track meets canceled,” Coach Woods said.

Many of the athletes have shared their emotions about these obstacles getting in the way of their meets.“I feel that the majority of complaints aren’t based on the location of the meets, but on the fact that so many of them have been canceled due to poor weather and other unexpected circumstances,” senior captain Zaki Ahmad said.

For seniors in their final indoor track seasons, these complications have left a bigger impact on their emotions.“There has definitely been some frustration at the lack of meets the team has been able to attend, due to both the renovations at the Prince George County Sportsplex and weather cancellations,” senior distance runner Tillman Peters said.

This inclement weather has also severely impacted the training that many of these athletes were able to do after school to prepare for the postseason. “Specifically because of the weather, we haven’t had many in-person practices, which has meant a lot of running asynchronously and more treadmill running, which we don’t normally do,” Ahmad said. “Being off the track along with having fewer workouts, puts us at a disadvantage compared to other schools in the states who have had normal training.”

Despite both of these instances occurring and impacting the RM indoor track team, they have continued to display incredible feats of athleticism. Through these issues, this team has grown closer and learned how to persist through any challenges that get in the way of the sport they love. “I think the lack of meets has sometimes made it difficult to stay motivated to train hard. For that reason, it’s been more important than ever to rely on our teammates and coaches for motivation,” Peters said. 

Though many track meets have been canceled so far this year, RM has powered through their training, having a successful winter season. The RM indoor track team keeps on pushing forward as they are now preparing for the postseason coming soon. “We got really great leadership from our captains and some of our older runners. They are doing well in helping the rest of the team achieve our primary goals,”  Coach Woods said.