The Red Oak Middle School track team is looking forward to a successful season, especially since the turnout for the sport has been bigger than ever.

“I’ve been here five years, and right now, there are roughly 40 girls and 80 boys, if they all show up at one time,” Coach Matthew McCullough said.

The team formed roughly four weeks ago, and so far, the track athletes are excited for the season. Seventh grader Kateri Webb competes in shot put and discus. Shot put is where competitors have to throw a heavy ball further than the athletes they are competing against.

“I like track,” Webb said. “Overall, we are doing good. I hope we have a good season.”

Seventh grader Isaiah Wilburn is a sprinter, and is also looking forward to the meets this season.

“The season itself, I think it’s going to be good,” Wilburn said. “We have a lot of good runners.”

McCullough said the athletes have been working hard, and tackling the phases he has put in place for them.

“The first phase for track is about trying to get them ready and work up to phase two,” McCullough said. “Phase two is for them to run faster than the time they started in phase one, and to start running with less time.  Phase three, we take more time away so they can run even faster, and their break time is cut down or instead of walking down to the finish, they do more jogging back to the finish.”

The team competed on March 3 in Lancaster. The 8th grade boys took 2nd place and the 7th grade boys took last place. McCullough said it’s a good sign for the rest of the season.

“Overall, they did well with the track meet, and I am proud of them,” he said. “However, there is always room for improvement.”