The track and field indoor season has come to an end for many athletes who participate in track outside of school.

Indoor tracks in Texas are hard to find, so all indoor meets are held at the major universities in central Texas. Athletes from all around Texas compete indoors during the winter season to better their skills for outdoor.

Indoor tracks are quite different from outdoor tracks. Instead of one lap around the track being 400 meters, it is only 200 meters. Instead of a 100 meter dash, there is a 60 meter dash. The track is also upon a slant, meaning it is a banked track. This can make adjusting to indoor track quite difficult. There are only a small amount of meets at surrounding colleges because only colleges have indoor tracks in Texas. The meets are on Fridays and continue to Saturdays, so a great deal of commitment is required to miss school and run at these meets. But regardless of the differences, indoor season is very competitive and benefits athletes’ training.

“I practice daily,” senior Jacob Jenkins said. “The amount of work required to even keep up with the runners that compete at indoor meets is insane.” 

Indoor track is a whole new type of racing, but the mental aspect of it is the same as any other season. Athletes have to train their mind and body to be prepared for any situation and have the strength to execute their races the way they want to. Most runners who compete in indoor track also compete during the summer and school season. They are usually serious about track and want to take it to the next level, college. Colleges think highly of athletes who compete in indoor meets. They see it as a preparation for college because the indoor season is part of the NCAA and is serious.

Unlike other seasons, indoor track meets are a distant drive for most athletes because of the colleges location. This season there were meets at the University of Houston, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University, and the University of Oklahoma. Five athletes from Round Rock competed in a couple of those meets. 

“Indoor meets get my mind and body into race mode for outdoor season,” senior Hayden Gray said. “It’s always good to see where you’re at and what you need to work on before outdoor season hits.”

Improvement is what people mainly focus on during indoor season. Due to the limited amount of meets, people mainly focus on improving every meet and setting a personal record. The competition is a lot fiercer, which can be good, but if composure isn’t kept steady, the race can falter from the athletes goals. 

“My mentality is that I need to go in there and just make sure that I’m executing what I need to do properly,” senior Jacob Jenkins said. “The most challenging thing is definitely the short amount of meets because you really have to get everything down and then nail it so you can do your best.” 

It’s now the outdoor season and the athletes that competed in indoor season are shining during outdoor.