Saturday January 11,2020: The 2020 Track and Field Season started out cold, damp, and windy this past Saturday. The night before, the forecast was not looking good, and there were concerns that the coaches might be forced to cancel the first preseason session. However, as Coach Belton said, "We train rain or shine!" So more than 25 kids, ages 7 to 16, took to the Katy Junior High Track at 8AM for the first preseason workout.
While some veteran runners were present, the majority of attendees at the workout were new to the club. A number of the new members are new to track altogether. The Katy Express spirit was present as the experienced runners welcomed their new teammates and helped guide them through the initial workout.
After running their 4 lap warm up, the kids received a quick welcome from Coach Belton, and an introduction to all of the other coaches who were on hand. Most of the new athletes were then sent off for strength and conditioning work with Coach Craig, where box jumps, jump rope and footwork drills were the order of the day. They then received an introduction to some of the basic points of the jumping field events from Coach Lou. Last but not least, any interested kids received an quick introduction to throwing field events from Coach Tony.
While the newer members made their way around the basics of track and field, the more seasoned members got in a full distance workout, with several 800s as the order of the day.
After practice, when asked what he thought, Coach Dan, the head coach at the Inner Loop site, emphasized that this is just the beginning. "The first step on the road to being a champion started today," he said. When asked what he thought about the first preseason practice, Coach Belton said "Great day. The kids looks ready to start the season."
Stay tuned for a new blog feature, 10Q4, coming later this week!