By Grace Hu and Erin Zhang, Staff Reporters
On March 2, the atmosphere was electric as members of Conestoga’s winter track team prepared to race at the Penn State indoor track. A gunshot rang out to signal the beginning of the race, and the racers sprang into action, dashing along the track.
The winter track team was in season from November to March. All winter track qualifiers on the team culminated their season by competing in the Pennsylvania Track & Field Coaches Association Championships.
Freshman Price Orcutt ran the 60-meter dash and was part of the 4×200-meter relay team at states. She appreciated the support and motivation the team provided for her as a new runner.
“Everyone on my team helps (me) a lot because I’m new. My coaches both helped me a lot. They taught me a lot of new things I haven’t learned before,” Orcutt said. “I like to push myself a little, and sometimes when it’s hard, I just say, ‘I’ll get better at it.’ Having a lot of friends on the team and my coach helped me with my motivation to keep going.”
Having participated in both winter track and field hockey together, Orcutt developed a strong friendship with senior Lexi Patterson, who supported Orcutt throughout each season.
“At the beginning of the field hockey season, we got paired with a freshman, so we had a senior-freshman duo, and I was assigned to Price,” Patterson said. “From there, we developed a connection and a relationship. I think both (field hockey and track) helped (us) push each other to be our best.”
Beata Artz, art teacher and long and triple jump coach, feels that the team’s bond was a key part of its success. She appreciates the fundraisers, dinners and parties that the booster club organized for the team and believes they were an effective way of developing and strengthening the sense of community among the team.
“As a team, we want to be competitive but positive, and we’ve tried to foster a sense of unity the last couple of years,” Artz said. “So, when the students are competing, they feel more of a family not as separated, and so that everybody gets to know each other a little bit better. The sense of unity is something that our head coach has really been trying to push.”
Grace Hu can be reached at [email protected].
Erin Zhang can be reached at [email protected].
