After a fantastic cross country season culminating in a national finish, LT’s boys distance runners have taken little time to celebrate. The athletes have worked hard throughout the winter to keep up their condition from the fall season to start the first track meets on the right foot.

“I think we will carry our success from nationals into track season,” varsity runner Vincent Zona ‘17 said. “We have a very deep team with runners that can compete in every event.”

During the 2015 cross country season, the boys placed second in the state meet. They then competed in the Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) competition, placing third in the regional meet and then qualifying for the national competition in Oregon, where they placed ninth.

“This [track season] is going to be the best we’ve been in a while,” Connor Madell ‘16 said. “We have a good sprinting squad and the distance squad is the strongest it’s ever been.”

Most cross country races are three miles or five kilometers (3.2 miles), but during track the longest race is the 3200 meters. Other distance events include the 1600 meters (one mile), 800 meters, and 4×800 meter relay. Some distance squad athletes also run in the 4×400 meter relay.

“The most important part is staying patient, building a mileage base and waiting to do speed work,” Madell said. “It’s tough having to lose good conditioning taking time off to avoid injury.”

Joining the distance runners will be the sprinters and throwers, who have also been training through the winter. While the shot put and discus athletes train separately from the runners, all three of the groups affect each other and interact beyond scoring in meets.

“Even though the sprint and distance teams have different workouts and don’t really stay together in practice, we’re still all great friends,” sprinter Tyler Delitko ‘16 said. “We know we can’t accomplish what we want as a team without one another, so it’s really encouraging to have teammates with the same aspirations.”

Some sprinters, such as Jack Luxem ‘16, joined cross country to condition for track. The sprinters did separate workouts on some days during cross country to keep them in top condition throughout the year.

“I think the success in cross country will provide momentum through the track season, especially for the runners who do both,” Luxem said. “The biggest factor of the offseason is showing up to winter running, and cross country gives a great head start.”

The track team has already begun practicing. Their first meet is at the Proviso West Valentine Relays, on Feb. 13. Other key competitors this year for LT include distance runners Danny Kilrea ‘18 and Alex Pall ‘17, sprinters Reggie Terrell ‘17 and Austin Itturalde ‘17, hurdler Jakob Mogorovic ‘16 and thrower Dan Rick ‘16.

“The most important part of this season will be remembering what made us successful in cross country,” Madell said. “Not taking any days easy.”