Since mid- to late-November both the Windham High School boys’ and girls’ indoor track and field teams have been practicing and working on their skill sets and technique as the start of their regular season nears.
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| Windham senior Carter Engelman practices hurdles in the halls of Windham High School on Thursday, Dec. 12 as the WHS indoor track and field team gets ready for the start of the season launching Dec. 21 in a meet at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham. PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA |
“With track it’s all about self-improvement,” said Windham senior Carter Engelman. “I love to (achieve personal bests) in my events, that’s my goal. I’m hoping for 14-6 feet in the pole vault; looking to break the school record in the 55-hurdles too. I’d love to see everybody improve, we’ve got a lot of great new freshman, and a lot of great returning runners and jumpers and they’re putting in the work and it’s going to be great to see them improve. There’s always a level of nervousness. I’m able to decrease the pressure myself by making it about improving and not comparisons, but there’s always a little bit of stress.”
To help prepare, Engelman and the boys’ team have been doing a lot of running and have been focusing a lot on strength in the weight room. They are also focusing on the technical aspect and dialing it in before the season, making their forms better and working hard to make improvements.
“We have a lot of good leaders and a lot of kids that are really stepping up helping with practices and helping the younger athletes,” said Windham boys’ indoor track and field coach Paula Pock. “They are getting anxious to compete. We’re really focusing on our strength and (being) mentally strong to help us get through some of those events and just not overthink it. We know we’ve put in the hard work and now we have to put it together in the meet. Our goal is to see a lot of kids qualify for the Southwestern and state meets. We have some kids that are setting some high goals to perform well at those meets.”
The girls’ team has new members who are excited to be part of the team and are ready to compete.
“I love to work out and running is always fun and to be part of a team (is why I joined indoor track),” said Windham freshman Taylor Hall. “I heard great things about the coaches, so I wanted to see what that was like. I would love to do really well in the 50-yard dash as well as the long jump; hopefully come close to the school record, maybe even break it. Definitely (get a personal best) in everything and to become a nicer, more talkative person to my peers, being part of a team helps with that. I love the feeling of the nerves though; it helps you get going.”
According to the girls’ indoor track and field coach Jeff Riddle, each day is an investment in how the team will train to implement into the next day. The first two and a half weeks, they were just investing for the next day and the day after that. The team has responded extremely well to all of it and Riddle helped to ease any nerves by telling the team that the first two meets are like a practice with your uniform on.
"Setting the sequence and flow of each day that’s how you build to capacity,” said Riddle. “I would like to see the team unified and have a blast doing this, to showcase and perform everything that they’re learning into their events and do it for and with each other. I think they’re going to have significant success.”
Windham’s indoor track and field team kicks off the season at 9 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 21 at the University of Maine in Gorham against Bonny Eagle, Deering and Falmouth High Schools. <
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