Track athletes qualify for championship
Marisa Roper
During the first Puma Indoor Invitation track meet, also the first event of the season, 15 Thunderbird athletes qualified for the National Junior College Athletic Association Indoor Championship in Lubbock, Texas. For the past couple of weeks the indoor track and field athletes have been traveling to host arenas across the state at Paradise Valley, NAU and Pima CC Tucson to compete for a spot in the championship the first week of March.
When asked about the athletes who didn’t make the cut for the championships during the first meet, the MCC track and field head coach Steve Jacobs said that there is an expectation of many more athletes to qualify in upcoming invitational events.
During each meet all 40 members of the track and field team have participated in the indoor events and will continue the season after the indoor championships are over to the traditional outdoor events.
Both indoor and outdoor track encompass the full spectrum of events, though they do have some difference in terms of size and some training.
Indoor track and field has been around just as long as the outdoor events.
The only difference is that each event in an indoor invitational has been scaled down.
For example, a runner who normally competes in a 400 meter event may instead compete in a 200 meter event.
Speaking from experience, some track and field athletes say that performances are usually better outdoors.
Though fast times can also be run inside, especially on a banked- or oversized- track.
Most often, these indoor events have been more popular in the colder climates during the first half of the track and field season.
Luckily for the MCC Thunderbirds the indoor competitions are not necessary because of the Arizona weather, but are another way of training and competing.
