The track meet against Wachusett is tonight, and the team is ready to give it their all to beat their rivals. However the excitement for this rivalry meet quickly dies after the realization of school assignments due the next day.  

With meets typically lasting seven hours total, track athletes often find themselves perturbed by the thought of packing a night’s worth of work into a few hours.

However, this constant cascade of stress derived from track meets, can be solved in a simple way. Through the separation of the track team into a varsity and junior varsity level, similarly to soccer or basketball, meets would consequently conclude earlier.

The track team currently has a way to differentiate the varsity athletes from junior varsity, the only problem with the system is that there is no separation. Many other high school athletics distinguish the various levels through separate games, so why should track fuse all levels to compete within one meet? There are several benefits through separation.

Through the separation of the track team, athletes would be able to thrive more than ever. The smaller team at the meet would allow for athletes to have a more personal learning experience with the coaching staff.

“As a 55 meter sprinter [the largest group of athletes on the team], I feel as if the coach typically focuses on the more experienced athletes’ races,” junior Nicholas Caracciolo said.  “There isn’t really a unique experience with him for most people, due to the fact there are just so many kids he has to watch and coach simulaniously.”

The dissolution of athletes may be seen as a restriction to the typical experience gained from a sport, separating the team and consequently friends. However, the separation of meets does not necessitate the separation of practices.

“The practices are a lot of fun,” sophomore Brendan Judge said. “People get to learn a lot from upperclassmen during practices, but the meets last far longer than necessary. I think everyone would enjoy shorter meets, because at the end of the day we all have other things in our lives.”

Despite the degree of skill, experience or age, track requires the same abilities throughout all levels. Usain Bolt, despite being a world renowned athlete, continues to practice his start throughout the entirety of his career. A freshman joining track for his first year will continue to practice his start throughout the entirety of his track career, as a powerful start is an essential skill for all sprinters to build up speed. This demonstrates why athletes will still be able to practice with their fellow track runners regardless of skill, allowing for the less skilled runners to still have help from more skilled athletes during practice.

An aspect of motivation would be brought upon athletes through distinguishing them based upon skill. Athletes who want to achieve a varsity level performance will have motivation to work harder within the meets as well as practices. Rather than allowing for the team to become comfortable with going to the meet with all athletes, athletes would strive for the higher level.

The track team should be split into a varsity and junior varsity team in order to shorten the meets. By separating athletes in categories of skill, meets would be shorter and more efficient. This would allow for athletes to have a more enjoyable and beneficial experience, without other aspects of their lives being negatively impacted.