On Thursday February 27, 2025, the Kinkaid School track team made the hour long drive to Liberty, Texas to participate in a track meet. They competed against Winnie East Chambers, Sour Lake Hardin-Jefferson, Livingston, Liberty, Cleveland Tarkington, Cypress Christian, Shepherd, and Baytown Christian.
The Kinkaid girls and boys team had an excellent showing; both placing first. The girls had a total of 177 points and won by 69 points. The boys had a total of 200 points and won by 62 points.
Long distance runner and sophomore, Anya Somcio, explained how she prepared for this track meet in practices. “We have a practice schedule that determines what we will be doing for that day. We usually have specific hard days, medium days, and long runs which are recovery runs.”
To try and maintain energy while running, many athletes try to stay fueled by eating carbohydrates before the run and by staying hydrated. Student athletes also try to make sure that they get eight hours of sleep the night before.
Preparing mentally for a long run is important for participants to do. “Mental preparation helps me a lot for running. Because I do longer events, I like to plan out how I am going to run my race. I also try to focus on having fun rather than worrying about my placement because the latter psyches me out.” Somcio said.
To keep nerves low, many runners try to make sure that their stress levels are relatively low throughout the day of the track meet.
“For the day, I try to keep my mind occupied by cheering on the team, talking with teammates, or if possible doing my homework. Before the race, I try to just worry about myself and hyping myself and the others up. I always try to calm myself with deep breaths right before the event starts.” Somcio said.
When the atmosphere is chaotic or there is a lot of tension, runners’ performances could be affected. It is best to try and stay calm during the meets.
After a track meet, the Kinkaid runners stretch and the distance runners do a cool down run.
“We assess our performance on how our strategies felt and worked. We took note of how we felt after and during the race.” Somcio said.
Athletes try to learn different strategies that work for them to improve their time.
“For running, your performances will fluctuate, you will never not have a bad race.” Somcio said.
