On Wednesday March 23, the top runners on the outdoor track team competed in their first meet of the season, the Gary Bugg Co-Ed Classic. This meet was based on field events and relays and lasted around three hours.

Sophomore Evan Jost ran the 4x800m and sprint medley events and says that he gets to work with a team more for this meet.

“[Relays are] a lot less pressure on you because only the co-ed [relays] count for points, so since it’s the first meet you get to see where you’re at in the season,” Jost said.

Senior Allison Kasch, who ran the distance medley relay for the first time, says that her event was a different experience because it was co-ed, something she doesn’t normally do.

“This [event] is interesting because it’s definitely a distance that I’m used to running because I’m used to running the 1000m or mile, but it’s in relay form which is kind of odd. It’s interesting to have to run with a baton and also have to give it to somebody else while I’m finishing,” Kasch said.

The runners have been preparing for meets since their first practices about two weeks ago.

“[To prepare for the event,] we’ve been doing some distance runs, and we’ve also been doing some pickup to increase our speed,” Kasch said.

Jost has been running since his freshman year.

“[My favorite part of outdoor track is] the individual improvement,” Jost said.

For Kasch, the meet has been unlike other meets she has run in the past where the events are mostly runners competing individually.

“Running is a very individual sport, and when you’re on a relay team it changes it to a team sport. It’s a very different experience,” Kasch said.

The team went on to win the meet and are now getting ready for the next meet of their season on April 6th.

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Irene Liu