Camp puts newcomers on right track

When Lutheran West track and field coach Anjanette Whitman thinks back to the camp the Longhorns hosted last week, she can’t help but smile. After all, she was introducing young athletes to the sport she holds near and dear to her heart.

“It was a lot of fun,” Whitman said of the June 27 camp. “The kids learned a lot and picked up stuff really quickly. It was a blast. Half of the participants had never done track before. I took a poll among them, and half had never done it.”

The camp was for fifth to eighth graders with the primary goal of introducing them to track and field. The idea behind running the camp was to show the benefits of competing in track in hopes of allowing kids to stick with it moving forward.

The coaching staff included John Ragland and Brittany Erdmann, who both were NAIA All-American throwers at Concordia University-Nebraska. Ragland is a teacher and administrator at Lutheran West and Erdmann is going into her third year as a teacher at the school. Anjanette and Keith Whitman both were NCAA Division I student-athletes at the University of Virginia and Kent State, respectively.

Anjanette has as decorated of a background as it gets in the area, as she was a state champ in the 1,600 in high school and went on to be a national qualifier in cross country while at Virginia.

Kids had the chance to learn from some of the best track and field minds.

“The entire coaching staff loves to share their passion for and knowledge of track and field with the younger generations at camp and throughout the high school athletic season,” Whitman said.

“They all had a fabulous time picking up the skills that make the sport so unique, as it serves as a basis for all sports. The final day of camp is a mini meet. The campers enjoyed showing off their new skills and cheering each other on during the events. They pushed themselves as athletes further than they ever would have expected of themselves prior to their camp experience.”

And it is the fun of the late June camp that makes Whitman excited for July, when Lutheran West will host three summer track meets July 11, 18 and 25.

“It’s a summer series track meet,” Whitman said. “This is our third year that we’re doing it, and it’s a small little meet to bring out the people. There are road races all summer long, but some people like to compete on the track or in a field event. And there aren’t many opportunities to do that. And plus we have very fun prizes and bake cookies.”

Last year, meets brought out roughly 40 athletes in the biggest meet of the series, and Whitman said she’s hoping for 25-40 people per meet this year. She joked literally anyone can compete.

“You can be anywhere from 0-99,” she said with a laugh. “One time we ran the mile and there was a 6-year-old, a collegiate guy and a 40-year-old all in the same race. Then when they finished, the college kids ran back to help the kids finish. It was really cute. And then we have some 60-year-olds that compete, too. They’ll throw and run the shorter sprints.”

Walk-up registration starts at 6 p.m. and the events begin at 6:45 p.m. Entry fee is $5 per event entered.

More information on the July meets can be obtained by contacting Whitman via email at awhitman@lutheranwest.com.