Track State is over for both boys and girls, many schools are finishing up their last few days, and many seniors have already graduated. Things have wrapped up for high school athletes.
It’s been a busy/exciting last couple of weeks. Two weeks ago we competed in our Mid-Suburban League Conference Meet, this past weekend we had Sectionals (Lake Zurich), and this coming weekend we have State! Throw in prom, AP tests, some hard workouts and some crazy weather and you have the whirlwind that makes the end of the season so fun.
This past weekend we hosted the 82nd Palatine Relays. Palatine Relays has always been my favorite track meet. When I was younger I often came to watch the Palatine Relays and always dreamed about when I would be able to compete in it. I actually got my first chance to do this when I was in 8th grade in the Jr. High Relay event, but I couldn’t wait until I got to compete as a high school athlete. The combination of great competition, unique events, and being able to represent Palatine on our home turf always makes it a special day. My senior year Palatine Relays was no disappointment.
“The Quad” is a fun tradition we have at Palatine. On our website our coach says “the Quad club is a special place reserved only for those Lady Pirate runners who have attempted and completed the grueling task of running all four distance events (4x800m, 3200m, 800m, 1600m), or mid-distance (4x800m, 800m, 400m, and 4x400m), in one track meet on the same day”. If you make it through the night, you’re officially part of the Quad Squad, and we keep records on how people do each year.
We’re at that time of the season again where small dual meets are becoming scarce and many large invites are being run throughout the state. Dual meets are a great place to try different events and work on different things, but invites are where the real fun happens in my opinion.
The weather has been beautiful in early April and outdoor track season is underway. With the start of outdoor some bigger time meets will be coming up, and this always means more nerves.
At Palatine, we use most of the indoor season to get in some good workouts, get race experience, and try different people out in different events. With this in my mind, we usually don’t put together our best line-up to maximize point scoring until our indoor MSL conference meet. The conference meet, which was this past weekend held at North Central College, is a great chance for us to put together our best line-up and see where we stack up against some of the great teams in our conference
Everyone knows there is a lot that goes into running a track meet. We know it’s a lot of work for the starters, the timers, the coaches, the volunteers, etc., but it’s so easy to forget just how much work in takes to run a track meet smoothly, and it’s easy for us athletes to forget to appreciate it.
Ah yes, Track Hack. It is just one of the many unique features of the indoor track season.
Yes, it’s that time: the 2014 Winter Olympic Games are upon us. I know many athletes, myself included, love the Olympics and try to soak it all in while it lasts. Many of us grow up watching the Olympics and dream of someday being on the big stage. Although we eventually realize this dream is unattainable for most of us, we can still be inspired by the Olympic athletes. Track athletes especially can relate to the hours of commitment and determination, or the very act of pushing the human body to its limits because that’s what track is all about.
I enjoy reading the Milesplit interviews with athletes about their college choices. With all of the excitement of signing day this past week, I decided to bring in someone to help interview some of my teammates and me, and he added some “unconventional questions” to spice it up a bit.
Deciding where you’re going to attend college can be one of the hardest, but most exciting decisions you make. There are so many things to consider, and for an athlete who is planning to compete at the next level it can be even more challenging. After months of going through the college searching, applying, and decision-making process, I recently decided I am going to attend and run track and cross country at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Hi, my name is Liz Cox. I run Cross Country and Track and Field for Palatine High School. I run any event 300 meters and up, but I specialize in the 4x800 meter relay and the 1600 meter run. I also throw discus outdoors and am willing to do pretty much any event...