As the New Ulm High School track team and their new head coach, Breanna Olson, step onto the brand new track for the first time, a rush of excitement for the upcoming season and being given the opportunity to have a new facility to compete on overwhelms each and every one of them; unfortunately, the excitement came crashing down when the track team heard the news about the 2017 season.

In Spring 2015 New Ulm began to build a new public high school. It contains a whole sport complex of baseball and softball fields, a turf football and soccer field, as well as a track surrounding the turf field. It was no surprise to baseball and softball that they would not be able to use the new fields in the 2017 season because the grass in the outfield needed time to grow, but track was a whole different story. With Breanna Olson as their new head coach, and a new updated track, the excitement for the new season was at an all time high; however, bad news struck the team when they found out they were unable to host track meets the first year.

Since no track meets could be held at the new track last season, all of the home meets were at the middle school track. It was disappointing that the new track team could not use the new track for meets, but they could practice there. “The discus and shot put were in areas where if the person throwing discus were to let go early, it could potentially hit the shot put area,” said head coach, Breanna Olson. This could cause serious harm if someone was in the shot put zone when a discus came flying over to their area and was also the reason they were unable to use the track. The track team and coaching staff is excited for the 2018 season though because, “all of the requirements are met so the track should be ready for use,” added Breanna Olson.

Since the new track will more than likely be ready for use since the requirements were met, Breanna Olson said that they will be hosting around four home meets, where at the old high school, they only hosted two or three. The only problem people seem to be seeing is that the new high school is in a very open area surrounded by cornfields and on top of a hill, so it can be extremely windy at times. Rylee Wendinger, a junior on the New Ulm varsity track team said, “I think the wind will be a big problem, we practice there and it gets super windy on nice days. I am hoping they plant trees around the school and track so that the wind can be more controlled.” Head coach, Breanna Olson also believes that wind will be a major factor in affecting the runners; however, she also said that the people who constructed the track put a lot of thought into creating the track, and painted it so that the runners can go either direction depending on the wind that day.

The new high school is only ninth through twelfth grade, whereas at the old high school it was seventh through twelfth grade. On the track team it is common for an eighth, or even sometimes a seventh grader to get moved up to varsity. With the middle school and high school being in completely different areas, Breanna Olson said, “If someone is to get moved up, they will either ride on the same bus as baseball up to the high school, or the bus company will send a small van to get them to the high school.”

With the new track comes new traditions, but also the keeping of old ones. At the old high school one of the yearly traditions was the Eaglet Meet, which is where kids in school up to sixth grade learn the fundamentals in track, and on the last Saturday the track team and coaches hold a little track meet for the participants. The track coaches are searching for new traditions also, “I would love to be able to have another 5k or even a 10k walk or run in the spring. There is the Eagle 5k, the color run, and the Hermann 5k in the fall, but none in the spring,” said head coach Breanna Olson, “last year I wasn’t able to start organizing this type of stuff because I had five new classes that I had to make lessons for, and also I was the new head coach with only one year of being an assistant coach.” Amanda Wendinger is the unified booster, and she puts a lot of time into helping out the track team and with the events that involve the community, “She is a lot of help, and I would work with her to get the 5k or 10k figured out,” mentioned Breanna Olson. Along with the trying to get a run scheduled, the coaching staff is also looking for a student manager. The coaches would take hours last year trying to get the times sorted out since there was so much going on at once, they believe it would be an easier process.

This upcoming 2018 season is going to be a special one. With the track being updated compared to the old high school track, senior Sarah Longtin said, “this year we will be able to have pole vault.” This event is uncommon at most of the track meets that the team goes to because it has specific requirements the track has to meet in order to be able to have it at a track meet.

There are mixed emotions about the new track. Kelsi Miller, a junior on the varsity team said, “I like the new track, but I feel like I am going to like the old track better. It is less windy at the old one. I feel like long jump and triple jump may be harder at the new track since it is set up so that the crosswind will hit you. I could be running straight down the runway and end up on the outside edge of the sandpit.” For senior Sarah Longtin it is a different story, “I like the new track more. It is a lot nicer, the only bad thing is the wind.”

With having a one year experience as being head coach, Breanna Olson is ecstatic for the 2018 season. She is more prepared and knows how the process of how things go, and is less stressed about making lessons for classes since she taught them last year. As the New Ulm Eagles track team steps onto the new track for the second season, they will feel a rush of excitement knowing that they will be able to practice and compete on the new track, without receiving any bad news.

Gallery • 5 Photos

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