WAYNE – Friday’s rain/freezing rain caused the Wayne High track & field team back indoors preparing to open their season.
The practice schedule changed a bit planning to be outdoors. The team split up across the gym and weight room. Conditioning, working the relay hand-offs and fine tune some specific technique that is different for an indoor event rather than an outdoor meet took place.
Dale Hochstein first coached the girls in 1987-1988 before becoming the head coach for both the boys and girls since 2002. When the team was able to get out and practice, they had to get track set up and work on specific technique drills.
“For those people we haven’t had the conditioning time, haven’t spent the conditioning time we want too,” said Hochstein. “Basically, is we want to get the technique in. Our distance and so forth, just getting some miles in. Trying to get some repeats in and get some base in and try to get that clock back in their head that lets them know here’s what pace I’m at.”
Assistant Coaches include Christa Dutcher (middle distance/distance), Mike Jaixen (high jump), Terry Beair (pole vault), Phyl Trenhaile (horizontal jumps), Brendan Dorcey (throwers) and coach Hochstein works with the sprinters. Lee Stegemann, Mandy Stabler (vault), Jacob Daum (hurdles) and Kiara Hochstein (distance/junior high track) are also helping out this year.
The team is made up of 30 girls and 23 on the boys side. The girls have been around the same in years past, but the boys graduated 13 seniors and saw only four freshman coming in this year.
Seniors Andrea Torres (long distance/4X800) and Jenna Trenhaile (shot put/weight throw/400) both agreed that they like the indoor meet inside and out of the cold weather.
“Also, just get back into the motions of track and I don’t know it’s pretty much it,” Trenhaile added.
“I’m running the two-mile tomorrow (Saturday) and I’m pretty excited to run 20 laps,” Torres mentioned.
Junior Cameron Muhs (pole vault) and senior Mason Lee (triple jump) talked about competing at Kern Track.
“Like in mornings you got to get up earlier, but if it’s at home it’s a little bit easier because you don’t have to get up as early,” said Muhs. “And you go straight to your track and your used to your track.”
“Yeah, you’re really familiar with the track, so it’s nice you don’t have to get up and travel all the way,” Lee added. “So, that’s nice.”
Wayne High opens their season with the 2018 WSC Indoor Invitational on Saturday, March 17 before competing in the Scotus Relays on Tuesday, March 27. WHS will host two events this year, the first is the Blue Devil Invite on Tuesday, April 3 and the Wayne Invite on Tuesday, April 10.
“But last year hosting five or six meets” Hochstein added. “It was great because people got to see, and we had a lot of compliments on our facility and how the people in the community help us run track meets. So that went really well, but this year we’ll be on the road a little bit more and hope the weather holds out, so we can get all the meets in.”
