Check out these videos! LC’s 4×100, 4×400, and 100m finalist are all featured here. Great job Tigers, who finished 8th overall as a team. Many of our point scorers are back to make another run at a state championship!
2008 Boys 4×100 Final
2008 Boys 4×100 Prelim
2008 Boys 4×400 Prelim
2008 Boys 100m Final
I’ve been a member of the LC track squad for three years now. I can honestly say I’ve never been as excited for anything as much as this coming season. What people need to understand is that the LC track program has grown into something far greater than individuals trying to run faster than the guy next to him. In the past three years I have watched my track and field team transform from a hundred kids running for themselves into one of the most intimidating cohesive group of athletes in the state. The maturity and focus of our returning athletes can not be matched. The brotherhood and trust we have in eachother pushes us to new levels.
At the end of last years track season I noticed an incredible difference in my teammates. When I looked in their eyes… something just seemed different. Any attempt I make at explaining what I saw will belittle how powerful it appeared. Every single person going into the championship part of the season looked so… hungry. I realized later that it was because we weren’t racing for ourselves anymore. We finally understood the lessons our coach had been teaching us for years. Our races weren’t about us, it was about representing eachother and fighting to win together rather than alone. Track isn’t about who is faster than who. It’s about what group of guys can come together and push eachother to the point that no other team can fathom what we did to get to our level.
This year, there is a huge difference between the Lewis and Clark Tigers and every other school in the state. If you watch a lot of these teams compete you will see one or two guys on their team stand out and rake in the points. When I think of a lot of teams I just see the face of their best athlete. When it comes to LC, it is impossible to see one face. We are so deep in talent that all you can remember is that you didn’t see one event in the paper that didn’t have a Lewis and Clark Tiger near the top. That is why opponent coaches and athletes consistently refer to LC Track as “the most intimidating team in the GSL.” It is because we have a TEAM of over a hundred track athletes, rather than one hundred individuals with some track stars. These track stars on other teams operate mostly off of talent they were born with. The LC team has a lot of guys that can beat these track stars. But when you have as many guys as LC does who kill themselves in practice and earn their victory over ‘the face of the other team’ you call that group of men track ATHLETES. LC is a team of track athletes- When we get together, single stars don’t exist- all you see is our constellation.
This season, we have the strongest team I’ve seen come through LC. Every captain will sacrifice himself to get his teammates to the next level. Our seniors have seen opponents squeak by one too many wins at championships. You don’t need to tell our team to get hungry. You don’t need to tell our team to want it. We already want it more than anyone outside the program could imagine. We will win because we know we can. This is the season we need to put all our chips on the table and letting them fall where they may. No one wants to be sitting on their couch thinking… “What If- What If I put in the extra sprints- What If I drank water before that race- What If I went to that practice.” Whatever it takes- This is the team that will do it with ‘puke and a smirk.’ It might be a lot of work but I haven’t seen a team of athletes more willing and capable to fight through whatever obstacle arises. This is a group of guys a coach dreams about. This is the group of guys that cannot be stopped, slowed, or belittled. This is a team that I couldn’t be more proud to be on.
Ryan Perrizo
Sprints Captain 2009
Also, here is the scoop on relatively local meets:
January 17th – Dempsey Indoor – UW
January 24th – WSU Open – WSU
February 7th – Runners Soul Open – UI
February 15th – Dempsey Indoor – UW
