by Oliver Longenecker
It’s a beautiful early fall afternoon at Andy Frye Stadium. The sun beats down on our Track & Field team as they begin early practices, preparing for the upcoming season.
The teams have begun early season practices. During these practices, the team starts by doing their warmups and a time trial. Today, they were shadowed by our cross-country team, who’s overseeing what warmups, drills, and workouts they do. The runners went all in for their time trials, which will determine their placement in events and relays later this year when the competition season begins.
After the practice, I listened in on the team’s first post-practice meeting to hear what Coach Hagen had to say about this upcoming season. At one point during the meeting, he brought up an interesting team tradition: Coach posts a picture in their team GroupMe conversation which he envisions will embody the team’s journey. He describes this year’s picture as follows:
“As you see on GroupMe, I have different pictures when we start off the year … typically a spark or small flame, or an ember, last year. Someone brought up to me: ‘Coach, aren’t embers for when the fire is dying out?’ and I say yes, it is when it’s dying down.”
I stood there overhearing this conversation and wondered to myself, “What is the concept he’s trying to get the team to see?” However, as I ponder it, he gave the team a good piece of advice: “It’s going to take everyone to get things revved back up again.” This is a powerful message–not just for me, but the runners. I could see in the runners’ eyes the need and want to succeed; to be the fastest runner, to be the best they can be. It’s a new era for this team.
With their first meet coming up in four months on December 7th, it’s petal to the medal for everyone involved to get ready.
Our track and field team will compete in sixteen meets this season, with eight being hosted in our very own Champions Hall. The full schedule is down below:
2024 – 2025 Centre Track & Field Season Official Schedule
· Centre First Chance: Saturday, 12/7/24 – Champions Hall
· Centre Indoor Showcase: Saturday, 1/25/25 – Champions Hall
· Steemer Showcase: Saturday, 2/1/25 – Springfield, OH
· Centre Indoor Invitational: Friday-Saturday, 2/14/25 – 2/15/25 – Champions Hall
· Wittenberg Invitational: Saturday, 2/22/25 – Springfield, OH
· SAA Indoor Championships: Friday-Saturday, 2/28/25 – 3/1/25 – Champions Hall
· Centre Last Chance: Friday-Saturday, 3/7/25 – 3/8/25 – Champions Hall
· NCAA Indoor Championships: Friday-Saturday, 3/14/25 – 3/15/25 – Rochester, NY
· Rhodes Invitational: Friday-Saturday, 3/21/25 – 3/22/25 – Memphis, TN
· Berea Invitational: Saturday, 3/29/25 – Berea, KY
· Centre Invitational: Friday-Saturday, 4/4/25 – 4/5/25 – Champions Hall
· Berry Field Day: Friday- Saturday, 4/11/25 – 4/12/25 – Mount Berry, GA
· Centre Twilight: Friday, 4/18/25 – Champions Hall
· SAA Outdoor Championships: Friday-Saturday, 4/25/25 – 4/26/25 – Sewanee, TN
· Centre Last Chance: Saturday, 5/10/25 – Champions Hall
· NCAA: Thursday-Saturday, 5/22/25 – 5/24/25 – Rochester, NY