Steady improvement will win the race for Pilgrims track
PLYMOUTH — Given the recent weather it’s hard to believe that track and field teams in the area are already in action.
Early in the year teams have several indoor meets that give them the chance to see where they are in their training. And again, given the weather, it’s hard to remember this has been a mostly excellent year for outdoor practice.
“This year has been real nice,” said Plymouth head track coach Curtis Nordman. “There have been days when the sun is shining and it’s near 50 degrees. The kids have been out there in shorts and t-shirts because it feels so good.”
“Weather is huge for us,” he said. “I usually have two practice plans — one for inside and one for outside.”
The combination of the good weather and returning runners has made the early going positive for the Pilgrims.
“I’m happy with where we are,” said Nordman. “The kids we have work hard. I’m excited about the group we have. We have a good amount of seniors back that should be varsity point scorers for us we have some good young kids coming up from the junior high. We have quite a few freshmen out this year.”
With several strong athletes in most events providing balance on the squad it’s hard for the coach to pinpoint any area that might be stronger than another sprints or distance.
“To be honest I don’t know a good answer to that,” said Nordman. “I could see it going a whole bunch of different ways. I could see one group pulling through for us one meet and maybe the next meet it’s a whole different group. I think it’s going to come down to that night and how they perform. Hopefully, at sectional time, everybody performs their best in all those areas.”
The balance can be key during the season as winning meets depends on the depth of your team.
“Especially when it comes to winning championships,” said
Nordman. “It’s hard enough to get one of your guys in the finals to score points for your team but it’s really hard to get two guys in there and it’s the teams with two guys that usually end up winning.”
Depth is even more important in the NLC. A bad night is even worse with a schedule of double/duel conference meets that could result in not just one, but two losses.
“It’s important for our kids to realize that they may be taking a fourth in a race but they may be taking second against one of those teams,” said Nordman. “That second place is 3 points and that’s a lot of points. It adds up fast. but if you lose two in a night that’s really tough to rebound from.”
Most of the team goals for the coming year revolve around effort.
“As long as our guys are giving 100 percent effort that’s the most I can ask for,” said Nordman. “There are some teams that have indoor facilities and have been practicing since December even and it makes a world of difference being able to do that.”
“We want to be one of the top teams in the conference, that’ s always a goal,” said Nordman. “But effort and improvement on their times is the big goal we have for everybody.”
“I think our biggest goal of the season is to be a sectional champ. It’s a lot of teams from the area. It’s always a goal to win at home. That’s probably our number one goal.”