Track

Racing back to the regular season

REGINALD LEE JR. Sports Reporter @ReginaldLeeJr16

With a new school year here, the Missouri State track and field and cross country programs will return to play.

With all sports canceled last spring due to the coronavirus outbreak, many collegiate players and coaches are spending their time planning on how they are going to adjust after a presumed resumed season.

MSU Track and Field and Cross Country director Jordan Fife has had a busy offseason preparing for a return to running.

“We have GroupMe texts that we are regularly communicating on outside of seeing each other everyday,” Fife said. “Whether it’s talking about train ing, how things are going or just trying to find something fun and different to touch on as a team.”

Both the track and cross country teams have had weekly Zoom meetings where professional athletes share thoughts on the current situation all athletes are in and how to move forward.

“You really start to realize how much your team means to you and how much your sport and job means,” Fife said, describing his biggest adjustments to the paused season. “Not being able to be there for them in-person, to help them through training, to help keep them motivated and see those performances come into fruition, having that being taken away has been very hard.”

Only two seniors will not be returning to finalize their season. Fife said the players have been honored by the team as they were approaching their conference championships.

Optimism is the mindset for the team, as Fife said he believes the free time from COVID has only given them the opportunity to get better.

“We feel like we’re going to have an even better team next year,” Fife said. “With the very minimal losses, then a lot of newcomers coming in as well as freshmen who were here a year ago just getting that almost full year of experience, we will be back hungrier

File Photo by Bill Sioholm/THE STANDARD Junior Edna Dar approaches the end of her first mile during a race at Missouri Southern State University in September 2019.

than ever.”

With all the restrictions COVID-19 has and may cause, running outside has always been available. This keeps the runners in shape and ready for their sport. Unlike other sports, track and cross country don’t necessarily need gym access to train. However, Fife said this hasn’t halted motivation in players. “I know even speaking with coaches in our sport from other universities, everyone is having a tough time trying to keep the student athlete motivated in that athletic realm, Fife said. “What

that [return] date looks like, the sooner everybody is gonna find that motivation again.”

The women’s cross country team will likely start their season near the end of August, and women’s track will likely start in January 2021.

DIANA DUDENHOEFFER Digital Editor @kissein

Ah, college! It’s the place where young people find themselves endowed with all sorts of new freedoms. Go wherever, whenever! Sleep when you want! Eat what you want!

But these new freedoms can come at the cost of your health, especially once all those late-night trips up National Avenue to Taco Bell start to add up. Let me tell you, the freshman 15 — and the “Mo-State 28” for us overachievers — is no myth.

A popular solution is to regularly hit the gym to maintain a healthy body. The Foster Recreation Center sees an average of 2,000- 3,000 patrons come through its doors each day, according to the director of campus recreation Ashleigh Lewellen.

But heading to Foster Rec can be intimidating especially in a part of life where so many changes are taking place all at once.

The building’s tall ceilings, daunting rows of treadmills and unbearably heavy weights are enough to make blood run cold.

For senior digital film and TV production major Michael Mayrand, going to the gym isn’t as intimidating as it used to be.

“You just got to get to the point where you realize that everybody is there for the same reason, and that’s to improve themselves,” Mayrand said.

In addition to the proper mindset, Mayrand said he’s been able to get over his gym anxieties by implementing a couple of simple solutions. He recommends listening to music at full volume and going to the gym either early in the morning or at night to avoid the crowds.

Lewellen said anxieties about going to the gym are common.

“I believe gym anxiety comes from the pressures built within society,” Lewellen said, mentioning the enormous amounts of advertisements people are exposed to every day featuring people who “look healthy.”

“If you take that and top it with pieces of heavy multi-functional equipment, loud bangs of the barbells and hundreds of people looking sweaty and determined, then I’d say it’s pretty intimidating.”

Lewellen said she and her team try to create a welcoming atmosphere at Foster Rec to break down the barriers that come with an intimidating facility. She said the rec center has something for everyone, but in order for students to be successful, they have to be willing to give it a try.

One thing students can do in order to overcome gym anxiety is to try to take some pressure off of themselves, Lewellen said.

“Be humble and realistic about your ability

and goals,” Lewellen advised. “Try to hone in and focus on what is making you anxious. Is it because you don’t know how to use the machine? Or is it because you simply don’t know what to do?

“Knowing the answers to these questions can help you build a plan to be more successful,” Lewellen said.

She also recommended planning a workout prior to arriving to alleviate some stress.

“Part of our mission is to help develop a healthy File photo by Nina Todea/THE STANDARD and engaged citizen,” Foster Rec Center is located in the center of campus, Lewellen said. “To me, this means giving you an opnext door to Blair-Shannon house and Freddy House. portunity now to learn, practice and implement physical health,” Mayrand said. healthy habits that will stick for a lifetime. One of the best things students can do in Long-term consistency always prevails over order to make the gym a more positive expeshort-term intensity. rience, Mayrand said, is to not go alone.

“This is a perfect time in life to explore and “Go with a partner – someone to back you battle those fears of using a gym,” she said. up,” Mayrand said.

Mayrand said he didn’t go to a gym reguHours for the fall semester are Monday larly before college. Nowadays he tries to go through Friday from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday to Foster Rec four days a week. from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from noon

“It makes me feel good to improve on my to 11 p.m.