Boys track and field focused on unity as a team this season, working together to beat personal records. 

The boys have gone to a total of two meets and have continued to support each other. 

“The support among our athletes and the performance improvement really stood out to me this season. Our athletes take the sport very seriously,” said sophomore Anton Berdnichenko.

The importance of being a program as a whole is important  for the team.

“One small thing for you to know: the boys in the Grayslake North track and field program are a team, albeit minor issues. We always work to solve our problems in the best way possible, so that the team moves forward. Positivity is key,” said junior Kelechi Akalaonu. 

Teammates will step in for each other if one of them is not able to compete.

“A moment that has stood out to me at every meet this season has been the continued willingness of all our boys to fill-in for others who have scratched their event. By ‘scratched’, I mean when an athlete is not in the condition, like injuries, to run their event; therefore, they must tell their coach that they will not be able to run,” Akalaonu said. “When this has happened, I’ve been amazed at how many boys will step-in for their teammates.

The IHSA meet for boys track is in question, but students are still excited to compete. 

“My season this year has been spectacular, to say the least. I have achieved personal records for all the events I have run thus far, which makes me excited for the possibility of running at the IHSA State Meet,” Akalaonu said.

Some students are disappointed with what has happened and had hoped to do well in the future competitions.  

“What was expected was to attempt to place at least top 4 in the Indoor Conference and then continue to improve from there,” Berdnichenko said.

Students split off into their subsection of track and field to practice with some of their new coaches. 

“Depending on the day, we might have a quick team meeting to go over upcoming meets and information, then we split off into our discipline groups: Sprinters with social media director, Coach Armata, throwers with Coach Anderson, and distance with myself,” said varsity boy track and field coach Anthony DeStepheno.

After practicing students will compete in their meets. 

“Meets can be a little chaotic; lots of things going on at once. The order events are usually the same at meets, except for relay meets, which might have races that aren’t normally ran all the time. They can be pretty exciting, especially when the whole team is cheering their teammates on in close races,” DeStepheno said.

Until further notice the boys track and field season has been canceled because of the coronavirus.