Clarke Central High School seniors Xaivon Wilcox (left) and Tyler Bryant (right) run sprints during track and field practice in the Billy Henderson Stadium on Jan. 31. Wilcox decided to join the team because of his desire to follow in the path of his family members. “Growing up, I had stepsisters that ran track and they had fun, so I wanted to have that same amount of fun,” Wilcox said. Photo by Colin Frick
After months of pre-season conditioning, members of the Clarke Central High School track and field team attended their first practice on Jan. 15.
The Clarke Central High School track and field team held its first official practice on Jan. 15 on the Billy Henderson Stadium track. According to head track and field coach Justin Jones, the team does not cut athletes.
“We don’t have tryouts. If you’re eligible and you’re willing to put in the work, you know there’s 16 events out there,” Jones said. “You know we don’t cut anybody, and I tell the athletes all the time, the track usually cuts them so we don’t have to make cuts.”
Although the team does not have any official tryouts, senior Xaivon Wilcox is pleased with the amount of attendance at practice and prior pre-season conditioning.
“Considering the people that’s been coming on a daily basis, as long as they keep putting in the work that they been putting in, we’ll be good,” Wilcox said. “We had people coming in since October.”
Practice started in the middle of January, and the team has been practicing consistently ever since.
“We’re practicing every day after school, Monday through Thursday. 3:45 to 5:30 or 5:45 (p.m.) for the most part,” Jones said. “We’re looking for good people, for good students. You don’t have to be a great athlete. We’ll work on that.”
Jones looks forward to the team’s season, and believes the commitment of team members will lead the team to success
“Track is a huge commitment and that’s why I don’t aggressively pursue a lot of athletes to do it because I know the commitment and time is difficult,” Jones said. “So it’s a saying and you know, I got it from a buddy of mine, and he probably got it from somebody else; ‘Track is not one of those sports you flirt with. It’s not one of the sports you date. You have to marry track and field.’”
The team’s first official meet will take place on Feb. 23 at Salem High School.
“It’s a relay meet, so it won’t be a lot of individual events. It’ll be a great opportunity for us to run a lot of kids, for them to compete for the first time against teams in opposite colored jerseys (and) kinda get their toes wet,” Jones said. “It’ll be cold and chilly, but that’s how it is at the beginning of track season.”
