This past Friday, Mar. 16, New Trier Boys Track & Field ran in the CSL South Indoor Championships at Evanston Township High School.

This was an opportunity for New Trier’s best runners to face off against the best runners from other schools in the same conference.

Head Coach Mark Wukas said his team had a series of meets at the start of the season which helped determine the team’s best runners and who he wanted to bring to the CSL Indoor Championships.

He said his team has “been working their butts off since the start of the second semester.”

Wukas said his main goal for the team going into the meet and throughout the season is to win. He also wants the team to learn from competing and show improvement from meet to meet.

Before the meet the team tries to prepare mentally throughout the day by setting goals and getting some nervous energy going. They start warming up about an hour before the race starts with jogging, stretching, and some short sprints before the race, said Senior distance runner Ethan Jakob.

New Trier’s Freshman and Sophomore team won first place at the meet, scoring 176 points. Maine South and Evanston were in second and third place scoring 148 and 72 points respectively.

Jakob placed fourth out of the 12 runners in the 800 meter race to score points for his team. He finished in 2:07.8 which is his new personal best and almost beats his fastest outdoor time.

“I have been running the 800 meter at most meets this year, so running in an event that I was familiar with really helped. I ran two 800 meter races (the week prior) and was able to run the same time for both of them. That was a huge confidence boost and it showed I was fast enough to run a faster time at conference,” said Jakob.

Senior, Albert Yen, ran the 55 meter hurdle, winning first in both the prelims and the finals.

Another Senior, Ryan Struckman, scored valuable points for his team placing 2nd in the 800 meter run.

New Trier Varsity Track & Field came in second place behind Evanston. New Trier scored 852 points, Evanston had 1771.

Wukas called Senior captain Albert Yen and Senior Wei Chen the team’s “brightest lights.”

According to Wukas, New Trier has one of the biggest Track & Field teams in the state with 240 guys. Because of the size, many good runners are on the Freshman and Sophomore team, whereas at other schools they would be on Varsity. This causes the New Trier team to be more competitive at the younger level.

Wukas is excited for the future, Sophomore Adam Bull broke the 40 foot barrier in the triple jump. Bull placed 5th in the Varsity competition but he has shown improvement and his coach thinks he has a lot of potential for next year.

Wukas was also proud of Sophomore Jesse Yang’s performance at the meet. Yang was first in the 55 meter dash (7.17), second in the 200 meter dash (24.71), and first in the 400 meter dash (54.44).

“It’s hard to run fast outdoors, so hopefully with more training I shave a few seconds off that time by the end of the season,” said Jakob.

Jakob said his role as captain is to lead practices along with the five other captains in other training groups. “ As a captain on the distance squad, I lead the guys in warm-ups and dynamic stretches at the start of practice everyday and help organize a core or upper session after every workout.”