As of this year, indoor track has become a KHSAA sanctioned sport, which means teams are now competing for an official state title. The stakes are higher than ever, and the Tigers are looking to claim the first official indoor state title.
“I think we have a really good shot at winning,” senior John Riley Kaufman said. “Our coaches have done a really good job at starting conditioning early to make sure we have the best shot. We have excellent distance, sprint, jump, and throw athletes.”
Head coach Dave Stewart knows a thing or two about coaching successful track teams, having found sustained success in the outdoor track setting already.
“We find ourselves fortunate to have the chance to win two state championships this year,” Coach Stewart said. “We have won four outdoor state championships in a row, which is a program record, and we are returning a lot of contributors this year, so we feel optimistic about being competitive with the best in the state again this year.”
The Tigers have started off well with seven Tigers qualifying for the Adidas indoor track nationals. Tommy Eisenback -60m, Kyle Stepteau – 60m, John Riley Kaufman – 60m Hurdles, Kyle Stepteau – 200m, James Burnett – 200m and Long Jump, Brodie Terkhorn – Mile.
“We are very much looking forward to traveling to Adidas Indoor Nationals again in March. We hope to qualify and bring more guys than we did last year,” Stewart added.
The team traveled north for the Ohio State High School Qualifier, where the Tigers had seven individuals finish in the top ten. Junior James Burnett finished first in the long jump and senior John Riley Kaufman placed second in the 60m hurdle finishing .002 seconds behind 1st place. The team’s 4x400m relay finished first with a 3:41.14 time.
The Tigers are a dominant team in outdoor track with 24 state titles and it’s looking no different here. There are many similarities between the two sports, but the main differences are what make this new sport exciting.
“There are a lot of similarities between Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field: running is running, jumping is jumping, and throwing is throwing; however, there are certainly differences,” Stewart said. “Indoor track is competed on a 200 meter track as opposed to a 400 meter track. This creates more turns and tighter turns, which tends to slow the sprinters down due to the force that they are carrying into the turn.”
In order to adapt to the differences of indoor track, the Tigers have adjusted their training.
“A lot of the work we are doing right now is more focused on our maximum velocity as opposed to our endurance as it takes longer to develop and improve,” Kaufman said.
“Our training is still building, our runners are still working on getting into shape, and learning or relearning skills,” Stewart said. “Our target is always going to be the outdoor title in June, but we did start our training earlier this year in December to try and be close to top condition at the beginning of March for the brand new KHSAA Indoor State Title.”
This past weekend, the Tigers raced at the Louisville Indoor Games where several Tigers qualified for nationals. Senior John Phelps, had a personal best in the pole vault finishing second with 15-10.5, and putting him second in school history.
