With it being early in the season, track athletes are seeing this season as a much more beneficial, with help of more labor-intensive practices without the track and a much more forced mind-set from the teammates.

“It makes me mad that the track is being redone,” said three-year track runner Erica Martinez. “We’re in track and we need a track; practices are hard.”

Though some players might find having trackless practices to be a burden, others find the practices to be more beneficial for themselves.

“The practices without the track doesn’t really bother us,” Patrick Dixon, third year Shot Putter said. “If anything we’re getting better because we’re running on a more difficult surface.”

Besides challenges with recent changes, track athletes have started their pre season strong with a meet at Texas A&M University, setting high goals for the team.

“Coaches picked 10 of us to the meet to compete,” said senior hurdler Miranda LeBlanc. “It was a small track but a lot of people making placing really hard for us.”

This invitational meet was extended to high schools from all over the nation, making it a very large meet at the university for only a selected few from each high school team.

The meet consisted of people from all over the nation competing at the university. Each competition was broken down into groups of 500 people.

“We competed in the preliminary races and did well,” said senior Omar Bailey, a fourth year track athlete. “We didn’t get to place in finals, because of weather conditions.”

Before Akins students could compete in the finals, the Austin school district canceled participation in all extracurricular events because of icy weather conditions in Central Texas. Akins student who made it to finals weren’t able to perform in the finals.

Although no members from the team placed at the meet, they said it was a fun experience for the athletes that inspired them to aspire to higher for their future meets.

“The meet was a really good experience for us,” LeBlanc said. “Although we didn’t place, I feel like it was really fun and set our goals for track season higher.”

Competition season for track will begin in late February with the first meet scheduled for February 21st. Despite the challenges during preseason, track athletes say they are confident and ready to make it a successful season.

“I feel like we’re more committed this year,” Bailey said. “It might not be everybody but a lot more this year than the last years.”