Last season of Track and Field was a disappointment for both the men’s and women’s teams, who both placed ninth at the MIAC indoor championships, and seventh at the MIAC outdoor championships. It was a tough season, but the men and Women have both stepped it up this year. So far this season of indoor track has been impressive and spectacular.

The men came in second for their first indoor meet at Saint Olaf, coming in first place in six events. In the third meet held at Carleton, they came in third place while recording three first place finishes.

Coach Dale Bahr, in his seventh year as head coach of the men’s and women’s track and field teams, is remarkably proud of both the teams. Although not much of the exercises and coaching has changed, the spirit of the teams have become much more confident, cooperative, and united.

“Not much has changed, we still do things the same way. The captains do a great job at unifying the teams, they implement a lot of team bonding during and outside of practices. During J-term, the captains did a good job of hosting group events, versus the past when we tried to only implement team bonding during practice,” Coach Bahr said.

Senior Sarah Swanson has been one of the more impressionable teammates on the Women’s team. During the first meet, she tossed a distanced weight throw of 14.18 meters and the shot put 13.17 meters scoring her in first place. Swanson took third place in the shot put event tossing 12.32 meters at the second meet in Mankato. Once again she took first in the shot put event last weekend at the Carleton meet, throwing 12.42 meters and weight throw with a distance of 14.55 meters.

“Sarah seems less concerned with her performances this season, compared to the past. I think she put a lot of pressure on herself to perform well—and not good pressure. This year it seems she is taking a deep breath understanding it’s her last year, and just doing what she can. She’s doing very well,” Coach Bahr said.

Many of the weight throwers and shot put throwers have been helping with scoring points for the Gusties. Another notable thrower is senior Sam Fischer who took first at the Carleton meet last week with a distance of 16.22 meters.

“He’s been a great leader. He’s been injured a lot in his earlier years at Gustavus…but over the summer, he had the guys lifting almost every day focusing on strength. That’s the difference with him, he’s motivated—the group has followed his mentality of being the best they can be. I think everyone can learn valuable things from Sam,” Coach Bahr said.

The track teams have not changed much, although people have graduated and left the coaching has stayed the same. People often think that working extra hours on their own time is beneficial, which is true—but not in track. It is about trusting the coaches in that they have thoughtfully planned the workouts and practices.

“We have a theory: work hard, but work smart. Doing less is more sometimes; what we have planned as coaches should be enough to get you where you need to be, what you need to do as an individual is focus on building confidence,” Coach Bahr said.

Athletes on the indoor track and field teams have learned that confidence is key to becoming a better athlete. It is not about being self-absorbed, but one can’t be too harsh on their self either. Confidence comes from believing that you can do it whether it’s challenging or not. Most athletes find themselves more successful when they are calm and collected. These characteristics are traits the Gustavus Men’s and Women’s Track and Field team holds strongly.