As Rohan Shah ‘26 prepared for his final pole vault at the 2024 West Suburban Conference Championship, only one noise broke through his focus: the cheers from his teammates who were running over from the shot put ring to root for him. 

“Even though the events are really different from each other, everyone’s still on the same team,” Shah said. 

This year, LT boys track and field is training with the goal of winning a Sectional championship and qualifying as many athletes as possible for IHSA State, Head Coach Michael Danner said. Danner has been coaching for 30 years and mainly focuses on the distance group. Last year, the team had a rebuilding year, but still qualified standout athletes, such as Nick Strayer ‘24, for State. 

“Even in a down year, you can still have some really quality kids,” Danner said. 

Pole vault has been a part of Shah’s life since freshman year after he injured his knees during the cross country season and wanted to find a sport other than distance running. He now jumps for varsity and has goals to qualify for State this year. 

“It’s not just about running fast or jumping high,” Shah said. “It’s about growing as a person, [and] connecting with teammates.”

As part of the pole vaulter’s training, they practice pole vault specifically on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and do other workouts, such as sprints, other days of the week, Shah said.  

“I think the coaches have really instilled values in a lot of the team members that are reflected in our performance and our everyday lives,” Shah said. 

This year, one of the team’s strongest events is distance, Sean Tilles ‘26 said. Tilles is in his first year on the team, joining after a successful first cross country season this fall. 

“There’s definitely going to be a lot of guys going to State for all the [distance] events,” Tilles said. “We’ve got guys who can run extremely well, and can totally qualify for state as they did last year.”

Tilles often runs the mile, 800, 3200, as well as the 4×400 relay. To train for distance, the boys run around five miles each weekday, except for days when they participate in workouts that consist of time trials or  repetitions of a certain event. On weekends, they go for long runs, which are anywhere from nine to ten miles.

“I really think [Coach Danner] is good at motivating us,” Tilles said. “You don’t want to lack in a workout because you know he’s going to get on you. But it’s not because he’s got anything against you. He just wants the best for the team, as he’s always wanted.”

The boys compete next in the West Suburban Conference Invite on March 21 at Proviso West High School.

“In your head when you’re running, you’re either going to push harder, or you’re not going to push harder,” Tilles said. “That’s your decision, and your body and your training is determined by how hard you worked in practice.”