Letters: Cyndi Thomas on why track and field is exciting

Dear Editor:

When students think of college athletics, they think of volleyball, football, basketball, softball, and baseball, but they often overlook a highly competitive and enthusiastic sport: track and field.

College track meets boast twenty-seven events for spectators to watch. The events include sprints, middle distance races, long distance races, hurdle events, relays, jumps, and throws. There is something for everyone to watch.

However, lacking the recognition and luster of other sports, many college students do not view track meets as being a go-to, exciting event. For those who do not know very much about track meets or have been given false information about their entertainment value, attending a Chadron State track and field meet may change their minds about the value of track.

In high school I was a three-sport athlete for four years. Looking up into the stands before a volleyball or basketball game and seeing all my friends and family was something I looked forward to. Their cheers filling the gym helped me focus and concentrate on the game. It helped knowing that the people in the stands were on my side, and wanted me to do well.

When I compete in track meets, the only people I see in the stands are the occasional enthusiastic parents. After all the hard work I do week after week, it is diminishing to not be able to share my success with others and be cheered on. It makes me question why spectators enjoy watching volleyball or basketball, instead of track when it is such an intense sport. Track meets feature very exciting events that anyone can enjoy!

As the athletes line up in their lanes, you can feel tension thicken the air. The few people in the stands silence their voices as the man with the gun shouts, “On your mark!” Eager eyes watch as the athletes stretch and situate in their blocks. Soon they are ready in the blocks and the athletes become one with the still and tense air. “Set,” yells the starting judge, and the athletes’ legs tense, awaiting the moment to burst into full speed.

The gun shot rings through the air and the runners stampede to the simply painted golden line ahead of them. There is no physical contact between the competitors, but you can see in each of the athletes’ eyes the desire and fight to best one another. The tension disappears from the air only when a winner is announced. How can someone not want to witness this?

Track meets host so many different events with the same intensity and drive as a sprinting race. At a basketball game you may get an exciting punch or foul, but the actions of the athletes are all the same. They run down the court to make a basket and then defend at the other end. With track, each race, each throw, and each jump is different and invigorating.

Track events deserve just as much support as any other college sport, so it is disheartening to see so many college students brush it off as unimportant. When I asked college students why they do not go to track meets, almost all of them replied, “It’s boring!” I agree that if you do not know someone who is competing, track meets can be difficult to enjoy. There are over 80 athletes on the Chadron State team and these athletes are known all over campus. Almost all students know track athletes, so they should be there to cheer them on. I have met so many new people in college and hope to see all of them in the stands cheering as loud as they can to support my teammates and me.

Another reason college students may not attend track meets is that they cannot relate to the event, or they do not know anything about the sport. When you look back through middle school and high school, whether you played a sport or not, almost all of you have had to run at least once. It may have been easy for you, or very hard, but since most of you have done it, it is easy to relate and enjoy watching track events.

People who have run know that it takes so much time and hard work to train the body to be in its best shape. They know how hard it can be to be very fast, or run long distances in short amounts of time. The Chadron State track team practices everyday and is in the weight room three times a week, just as much or more than other teams at CSC. Each of us strives everyday to make ourselves faster and build stamina. Without spectators at meets to see the products of our hard work, dedication, and passion for the sport, blood, sweat, and tears go unnoticed. We are not respected. Just like every other Chadron State athletic team, the track and field athletes deserve an audience of loud and enthusiastic fans. We have earned it.

As an NCAA Division II athletic event, Chadron State College track events deserve the respect and attendance of Chadron State students. There are only two home meets this season. So, on December tenth and eleventh and February third and fourth there should be a record number of people in the PAC cheering on their fellow student athletes.

If you have never been to an event, these indoor track meets will be a warm and exciting place to learn to love the sport. The athletes who have been training for the last two months deserve the recognition for our hard work. The men’s track team has been chosen in the RMAC preseason polls to finish third of all the teams and the women’s team has been chosen to finish seventh. Come to the Chadron State track and field events; enjoy a competitive and exciting environment, and cheer for the athletes who are going to win!

—Cyndi Thomas,
freshman of Omaha