The track team ended their indoor meet with the Gene Armer Invitational at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranking 11th among 40 schools. KC Pruitt finished third overall in the 3200m race while the 4x200m relay of Earl Manaog, Juan Manaog, Aubrey Howard and Neil Saini won fourth place.

After three months of being indoors for their meets, the track team started their outdoor season with the annual Len Jareczek Relays in the stadium on March 23.

Lane hosts three home meets in the school year, the decision is made by CPS’ spring schedule, but other sports tend to have priority over track when it comes to game schedules according to Roof.

Indoor season, which can be seen as a “glorified pre-season,” gives athletes the opportunity to practice and race in less competitive meets for the outdoor season in spite of the bad weather this season, according to Boys Head Coach Mr. Roof.

“[The season] has been fun because we use indoor for a lot of ‘off’ events,” Roof said. “You know, our best distance runners will run some shorter events to work on their speed, and then we’ll mix up some of the relays to give different guys chances.”

This is especially crucial for the field players, like jumpers and throwers, who need those meets to practice on an actual track field rather than in the building during everyday practices, according to thrower Khalem Caldwell, Div. 966.

Even then, indoor facilities tend to utilize 160m or 200m tracks, which for long distance runner, KC Pruitt, Div. 865, can be more tedious when running the 1600m and 3200m races.

“It makes a lot more laps, especially for long races,” Pruitt said. “For some tracks, you have to run 20 laps for a 3200 which is a lot, and mentally it’s pretty difficult and it makes the race seem a lot longer than it actually is.”    

For Pruitt, the experience of being in a small track indoors with a big crowd is a completely different experience compared to cross country.

“Indoor is really loud, like everything is really close together and packed in,” Pruitt said. This is a big contrast from the cross country races where the runners are more spaced out in the trails. “You’re by yourself and there’s nobody near you, no fans or anything, so just kinda running through the grass and the woods,” he said.

The outdoor season is looking promising for some freshman runners that are advancing to varsity. One of whom is Juan Manaog, Div. 172.

“He’s one of our top sprinters; he’s been running really well,” Roof said. “He keeps getting faster — he’s setting some school records for freshmen.”

This will be Caldwell’s first outdoor season on varsity. Last season he won first in shot put in the JV city championships and second in the discus event, and he’s hoping to make it to state.   

For Pruitt, he’s looking to try and rank top four or five after winning all-city last year at championships in the 3200m race. After winning second last season, the team is looking for first.