Following the cross country program’s successful season, Oak Park and River Forest High School’s track and field athletes are eagerly lacing up their spikes, getting ready to dominate in the winter and spring.

The teams are led by the girls’ head coach, Nick Michalek, and the boys’ head coach, Tim Hasso. Track preseason, the optional open gyms that take place after school in the fieldhouse from Monday through Thursday, started on Nov. 27, and the season starts on Jan. 15. Girls Sprint Coach Tamara Gardner said that the preseason open gyms are mostly to “lay a solid foundation.”

Boys Head Coach Tim Hasso added that the team has been doing “light running, some lifting. We’ll do form work. It’s really just getting into shape and doing as much for injury prevention as possible.”

“On the distance side we are gearing to hit the highest mileage weeks of the year so that’s pretty exciting,” said junior Liam O’Connor, who runs the mile and two-mile events.

Whether the athletes are sprinters, distance runners or fielders, Hasso believes that the preseason turnout is setting a strong precedent for the rest of the season. “Every day we see a bunch of kids show up with bright eyes and enthusiasm wanting to get better,” he said.

Track and field wasn’t always Hasso’s main sport. He came to OPRF in 2000 as a football coach but became a track coach in 2002 “to have access to those football players for the whole second semester to work on speed and strength gains…Then, I just fell in love with the sport,” he said. “I started as a football coach coaching track; now I’m just a track coach.”

Gardner, on the other hand, has always known track was the sport for her. “I ran in high school, I ran in college, so it was just my first love,” she said.

In her 20 years of coaching, Gardner has learned a lot about how to lead a team. “It’s about work ethic. It’s about discipline. It’s about uplifting each other, pushing past your pain, setting your goals high and working towards achieving them,” she said. “Our team has a strong sense of how to motivate each other to be our best,” added senior Anne Lynch, who runs a variety of distance events.

O’Connor said that the coaches were instrumental in solidifying the “team chemistry.”

The track program’s strong foundational training combined with its supportive environment have paved the way for major goal-setting this season.

“A big goal our team has both collectively and individually is to be as competitive as possible and improve both physically and in mindset. Looking towards May, we always want to send as many runners to state as possible,” said Lynch.

The IHSA State Final Meets for track and field are on May 16 to 18 for girls, and May 23 to 25 for boys. As the coaches and athletes prepare for a competitive season, Gardner wants to remind athletes that, “How you practice is how you perform, so always put your best foot forward.”