Winter TrackThe Lawrence High School winter track team knew having outdoor season would be a bit unusual, but the way things have played out has to be a complete shock.
By: Steve Feitl
Through January, the Cardinals competed in exactly one dual meet. The rest have been canceled mostly due to the weather.
That has left the Cardinals only competing in the championship meets, including Wednesday’s Mercer County Championship.
It has made for an interesting season to say the least, according to boys coach Bob Chandler.
"It’s very difficult to keep the kids motivated and keep them interested in running," he said. "We’re trying to build a program here. Three years ago, I had eight kids sign up for winter track. Last year, I had 16 and this year, there was 30. But when there’s so few meets, the depth I’ve been hoping to build disappears."
Even more problematic for the Lawrence coaches has been keeping the kids at the top of their game for the championship meets.
"I think the girls who have had the opportunity to run in the past few championship meets are doing OK," girls coach Gary Dura said. "I don’t think they’re at their best because they haven’t had the opportunity to race. The track has also been covered with snow every day so we haven’t gotten the quality work in.
"For the girls who haven’t had the opportunity, this has been a real blow to them. But they’ve all hung in there which is a credit to them."
Among those making the best of things is Katharine Uhazi, who has been holding her own in the high jump. At the Lavino Relays two weeks ago, she eclipsed her personal best with a leap of 4 feet, 10 inches.
Kathy Katowski and Ka’Meda Ellison are also running well in the hurdles, according to Dura.
Katharina Zschky set her personal best in the 1,600 at the group championship Sunday. She ran a 5:51, easily topping her previous mark of 6:12.
Ashley Thompson and Katie Tenaglia also did well in the 800, Dura said.
On the boys side, Chandler pointed to the Lavino Relays for the highlight of the season thus far.
The 4×200 team of Isaac Johnson, Justin Reed, Rafiq Bashir and Aaron Mason ran a 1:37.9, which was about two second off of the old meet record set by LHS in the 1980s.
Unfortunately the mark was shattered by another team that day and the Lawrence quartet didn’t even earn a medal for their effort.
Still, Chandler noted it as the stand-out moment of the winter.
He also said Johnson, Mason and Bashir all had legitimate shots in the short sprint races of the county championships Wednesday.
"If they run well," Chandler said, "all three of them can advance to the finals. It would be nice if one or two of them could be up there."