“In track, I specifically do 110m hurdles, 300m hurdles, long jump, and triple jump,” states sophomore Stephanie Erisman. Erisman has a history of doing sports including, volleyball, basketball, and taekwondo. She specifically chose to do track, volleyball, and basketball because she “didn’t want to regret not at least trying high school sports, [she] wanted the experience.” 

     According to World Record Camps, “Track and Field athletes can train for an event of their choosing, and they can also train for a variety of other events. This allows them to become more in tune with their different skill-sets, resulting in improvement all around.” Erisman states that track is her favorite sport because she gets the chance to do and watch so many things and yet it’s all categorized as the same sport. 

     “Track practices are quite fun, we normally start with two warm-up laps, and then us hurdlers will go over with coach Burgess and do separate warm-ups. And then depending on the day we may do multiple sprints (distance varies) and then hurdle some. A few days a week I will then go practice my long and triple jump. Meets are normally structured about the same, 110m hurdles is the second event and then I will normally go long/triple jump, before coming back to do the 300m hurdles,” explains Erisman. 

     Erisman also explains how her volleyball practices went, “we would stretch and warm-up, maybe do skill specific practice, and then scrimmage some, again, it varied based on the day. Games were best out of three “sets” I think they were called; you would play to 25, and if you made it to a 3rd round you played to 15.” 

     “Volleyball improves hand-eye coordination, reflexes, and balance. Volleyball also teaches teamwork and communication and is a great social activity,” states Athletico. Erisman had also mentioned her time playing basketball, according to The Better Health Channel, “Basketball teaches you about being a good team player and can be a great social sport.” 

     Erisman also brings up another plus to participating in sports, “[sports taught me] to not let one mess up ruin your day. At Friday’s track meet I had a rough 110H race and was upset with how I did, but [because of my experience in sports] I was able to push aside that one bad thing and later ended up getting first in triple jump!” 

     With any sport, injuries may occur and Erisman particularly has thoughts on giving up because it’s a lot of work. “Yes, [I have felt like giving up or taking a break from sports] especially right now, because my shins are pretty sore most nights due to track, but I am determined to finish out the season.”