Windham Middle School indoor track team happy to be back at it

Windham Middle School seventh-graders Camden
Patin, Tate Robinson and Ellias Jauregui run laps
around Windham High School's athletic field. The
WMS indoor track team has been practicing despite
not being able to participate in competitive meets
and working on honing skills and techniques.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA 

By Matt Pascarella

When Windham Middle School girls’ indoor track coach Jason Lanoie reached out to athletic director Rich Drummond to see if there was going to be some sort of indoor track season, the eighth-grade girls on the team were really happy to hear that there was going to be something. The whole team is glad there is something. The athletes on this indoor track team are happy to be back doing a sport they love.

While the Windham Middle School teams aren’t having competitive meets, they are working on skills and drills in preparation for a possible competitive track season in the spring. The team practices four days a week and the turnout has been great among the two cohorts.

The events the kids are training in during their skills and drills season are events they would have participated in during a regular meet, such as: distance running, sprint work, hurdles, shot put, and relays – contactless relays. The kids are excited to be on the track, or in the gym, and are putting in a lot of effort during these events.

Lanoie was excited that there could be a season, no matter what it looked like. 

“My goal is to have something, because everything is getting canceled,” he said. “I wanted to have something where they would be able to get in shape and get them out of the house; it’s getting them active and having a good time.”

One of the eighth-grade girls who was excited to hear there would be a season was Caitlyn Marsh. She has been on the team for a few years and considers track one of her biggest passions. She said it’s a fun learning experience to be with other kids running. She would love to run track in high school.

Seventh-grader Ellias Jauregui said even with COVID-19 out there, the season is a big hit. He’s glad they get to run. He was sad when he heard it might not happen, but now that it’s happening, he’s excited to be back on the track again.

“It’s creating more of a routine for them and making things a little more normal, said assistant coach Lindsey Szewczyk. “It’s bringing their positivity up.”

Szewczyk’s goal is to improve on whatever the kids need to for outdoor track and helping the kids improve for next year when hopefully they can compete.

When competitive meets return, this team will be ready. <