By Baylee Rich
This season of track is filled with goals, ambition, tight unity, and many new and returning athletes with fierce competition ahead. But most importantly this team has grown a powerful bond with strong chemistry.
Returning senior Kamryn Wilson has a drive to break records in a program that keeps him grounded and motivated.
“Delta is really fun and an enjoyable program,” he said. “We have great coaches, we don’t overdo it every day, we practice for a quick 45 minutes, and then we can go and have our own lives.”
Wilson added, “It’s really easy to do track and have your own life outside of school.”
He has high hopes for this season and has many goals he wants to achieve before the season ends.
“I want us to go into sectionals and do the best we can, but individually, I want to make it to state,” he said. “I’ve made it to an indoor state but never an outdoor state.”
Wilson has already broken the indoor 4×4 record and is trying his best to break the outdoor 400-meter run record as well.
This upcoming track season is set to be one of the most exciting yet, filled with intense competition and athletes eager to break new records.
This year, head coaches Shane Conley and Mackenzie Dye Conley are leading the team with the focus on both individual development and team unity.
“We love having a lot of athletes, ” said Shane Conley, head boys’ track coach for 10 years. “Even if track is not your main sport, it can help you be more athletic for other sports. ”
There are 87 boys and girls on the team this spring, which is the highest total in his 10 years.
The athletes have already begun their training and meets, with practices focusing on everything from sprints to distance running, throwing, and jumping.
“What’s so great about this program is we work with everyone no matter their experience level,” Shane Conley said. “The general culture of our team and program, I think, has been one of our best qualities.”
One of the top Eagles returning this season, Mia Bollinger, looks forward to this upcoming season.
“I’m looking forward to the Oak Hill relays,” Bollinger sayd. “It’s coed and it’s always so much fun.”
The Oak Hill event is Saturday, April 19.
With that excitement in mind, it’s worth noting that she holds the school record for the girls’ 200 meter dash and hopes to beat it once more. Her record breaking time last year was 24.74 seconds.
“For my 200 meter, I think I can get a better time than last year,” Bollinger says.
To add on to beating records, Bollinger has already broken a school record along with Jillian Barr, Chloe Newsome, and Reese Backus in the 4×100 relay during the Ball State Track meet this season.
Just a baton handoff away is another top Eagle, senior Chloe Newsome. While balancing out cheer, soccer, and track, she finds a way to excel in all three sports, especially track.
“My biggest achievement is definitely when I made it to indoor state this year and regionals,” Newsome said.
That experience really showed her that hard work pays off and motivated her to keep putting in the work.
“It’s very important to show up to practice,” she said. “It’s the only way to get better.”
The balance between commitment and flexibility is not only appreciated by Kamryn Wilson, but it’s appreciated by many other track athletes, including senior Cameron Deckman.
One of the top boys’ distance runners, he enjoys the track program also.
“For the distance side, it’s really a family. It’s a really tight group and a fun group to be around,” Deckman said.
Through the hard work and dedication during the winter months, their family dynamic has only gotten stronger.
“We’ve trained all winter and we’ve been able to work up on both the girls and boys side and it has helped our distance team grow a bond,” he said.
Junior Kylee Robles also feels that unity, highlighting what goes on behind the scenes that helps the distance team succeed.
“Coach Dye’s practice plans help out a ton,” Robles said. “The whole distance team is starting a new heart rate training, and she makes everyone’s practice plans kind of personalized for everyone.”
Robles added: “It’s really nice having a coach that knows what you need to do to get better and having a coach that understands her athletes as individuals, too.”
With all the hard work in practice, the support from the program, and everyone working toward their goals, this team is definitely on the right track to success.
