With the start of the new track season, and with the renovations to the Winnetka athletic facilities, adjustments have been made about where students will be practicing and what the nature of most practices will look like.

Andrew Schmitt, the boys track and field varsity coach, explained that there are still many uncertainties as to where the boy athletes will practice in the wintertime. The athletic department expects the indoor season to be at both the Northfield and Winnetka buildings, as well as a mix of practices in the morning and afternoons.

“So it’s going to be a very big juggling act for all sports once the building construction begins,” said Schmitt.

Flexibility is also a key component for success this season. The girls track and field varsity coach, Bob Spagnoli, talked about how the team will have to be more creative with their practice spaces.

“Practices will be in gyms. It’ll be in the hallways, it’ll be outdoors. It’ll be in the weight room. It’ll be wherever we could find practice space,” said Spagnoli.

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Limited space is also a concern considering the team might have to break up into smaller groups. Senior Sam Fellman, who has been doing track since her Freshman year, said that it will be a major adjustment not to have that facility when it’s so cold out.

“I think it will also be harder for different groups within the team to see each other. We have such a big team, and with limited places to all meet up together, it will be a challenge to just see each other everyday,” Fellman said.

Athletes participating in field events use the fieldhouse mostly during the indoor season, making it difficult without it these next few years.

Colleen Charchut, a senior who has been doing track since her freshman year, said that practices will have to be adjusted due to the construction so that athletes can prepare for meets with the same intensity as they would with the fieldhouse.

“Practices will not look the same as they usually do, but we’ve dealt with obstacles like this during the pandemic. We’ve learned to take on challenges and put our best effort into keeping the team a team,” said senior Colleen Charchut.

Spagnoli said how certain distance events will be possible in the spaces provided, thus causing the preparation to look different, feel different, and be different.

“You can’t practice a 200 or a 400 when you’re indoors in a hallway, or in a gym, for example because those spaces aren’t set up for that,” said Spagnoli, “But you can still practice starts, relay exchanges, and all the important stuff that goes into preparation for the meet at the practice spaces they are setting up at the Northfield campus.”

New Trier will not be hosting any indoor home meets this season. However, Spagnoli said that for the girls team there are added indoor meets to larger facilities with 200 meter tracks, which will add more opportunity for competing. The boys and girls track team will still have the chance to host outdoor meets, per usual. Schmitt said that practicing at other locations will change the nature and flow of the practices.

“I’m not as conventional as other track coaches. I like to do a lot more sprinting and a lot more things at really fast speed and shorter distances so that would be good if we could get a good hallway or have a track,” said Schmitt.

On top of the practice itself, it will be interesting to see how many people sign up for the track season considering the possible time commitments. In regular conditions with the indoor track available, practices are normally right after school. However, look different this year due to changes in locations.

“People are going to have to use their time well to get their studying in and how they’re planning so it could affect it,” said Schmitt.

With all the changes occurring during this next track season, the team will have to adapt.

“We always combat difficult situations with creative solutions, so this is no different,” said Charchut.