By Jared Lloyd
The scene Monday morning in the Smith Fieldhouse seems normal. A group of athletes stretch out, laughing and joking with each other as they warm up. It seemed like a group you could find anywhere on campus, preparing for a little light exercise.
They are the members of the BYU women''s track team. Later Monday afternoon, the men take their place on the track to prepare for this weekend''s meet.
They are just like most students, struggling to juggle their schedules and balance their finances. They laugh about relationships and homework.
But when they start working . . . then they separate themselves from the average student. Man, can these people move!
'We''re working today to iron out errors from this last weekend,' women''s track head coach R. Craig Poole said. 'By the next meet, they should be a step faster, more technically sound.'
It is amazing to watch these competitors just warm-up, running step drills and working on sprint times. They seem to glide across the practice area of the Smith Fieldhouse faster than most people could sprint.
Who are the people of track? What keeps them going? What are they getting out of their track experience?
The answers to these questions are as diverse as the athletes themselves. Track and field combines of a wide variety of athletes and competitions, probably more so than any other sport.
'It''s a challenge as a coach to keep track of each one of those areas,' Poole said. 'You have to write programs for each competition. That takes a lot of time.'
Still, even though the events differ, the people of track and field have a lot in common. Many of the athletes started in track for the same reason: family history.
'I was brought up in a family where my dad was a high school track coach,' junior hurdler Greg Flint said. 'He sort of influenced me and I was pretty fast growing up. It was kind of a heritage tradition and I wanted to carry it on.'
'Track has been in my family and it looked like fun,' sophomore high jumper Candace Clifford said. 'I''ve always had to be working out and exercising, so it worked out.'
'I started running track really young,' senior All-American long jumper Nikki Hughes said. 'My brother also ran track here and was an All-American. I''ve been running for a lot of years now.'
Others got involved with track because it suited their abilities and provided the best opportunities.
'I choose to do track because I love it, because I''m good at it, and because I get a scholarship for doing it,' junior thrower Susan Clayton said. 'I started out long jumping in high school, but I wasn''t very good at it. They suggested I try throwing, and in my first meet I won, so I switched.'
'My mom said I could throw softballs far, so I decided to try throwing in track my freshman year and I was successful,' junior thrower Malita Bingham explained. 'I love it, I think it''s fun.'
'In high school, I was looking for a sport,' senior hurdler Russell Elggrin said. 'My cousin had gotten into it, so I followed him. The hurdle coach saw me stretching, saw my flexibility, and pulled me out to try hurdles. Ever since that, I''ve just loved it.'
The Cougar track members have a lot of great experiences from being in track . . . and a few things they''d rather not remember.
'The thing that sticks out the most is the camaraderie of the team, especially here at home meets,' Flint recalls. 'I think the most memorable races and my fastest times have been here at BYU.'
'I think of the feeling you get running track that I don''t know if you can get in any other sport,' Hughes said. 'It''s all you. No one else can determine your success.'
'Self-fulfillment is the best part of track,' Clifford agreed. 'When you have that awesome meet that you''ll always remember, you individually conquered yourself and those personal limits.'
'Everyone knows they have a lot of potential,' sophomore triple jumper Lindsey Sommer said. 'When you go farther than you thought you could do is the best feeling.'
The athletes easily came to a consensus about the worst part of doing track: 'Injuries are the worst,' Clayton said. 'Being in the training room every day is tough.'
'Injury is a hard thing to deal with when you''re limited to four years of eligibility,' Elggrin said. 'It''s hard to sit out and watch other people compete.'
For Flint, his worst experience is even more specific. 'Throwing up in a workout is the worst! It happens once in awhile. If you push yourself to that point, you know that you''ve worked out hard, but you don''t feel the rewards right then.'
Track takes a lot out of the competitors, both physically and mentally.
'The hardest part is coming to practice every day, Elggrin said. 'You really physically drain yourself just about every day.'
'It''s a high time commitment and high effort commitment,' Poole said. 'It takes a lot from both the players and the coaches.'
'The long hours and trying to balance school work with the effort you put into track is difficult,' Bingham agreed.
Each individual, like in anything else worth doing, has to find his or her own reasons to keep going.
'It''s fun to beat people that you haven''t before,' Clayton said. 'That''s what keeps me going.'
'I just have the drive. In any sport, you keep going until it''s not fun anymore,' Hughes said. 'I enjoy seeing what I can do and reaching my potential.'
'Visible progress and friends keep me going,' Elggrin said. 'If I didn''t have a team here, it would be very, very difficult to come in every day and practice. You also have to have a drive and a love for it inside.'
So what does it all mean to these athletes? What is the bottom line?
'It makes school a lot more fun for me,' Flint said. 'I enjoy it so much that it will be something I''ll be glad that I did. I think it will help in careers as well, knowing how to work hard and be a leader.'
'Just the experience is fun,' Bingham said. 'When you''re 80 years old, you can say, ''I participated in track at BYU and won this and this.'''
'I think that track made me feel more a part of BYU,' Sommer said. 'I feel like with track I had a place where I fit in.'
'I''ll probably never forget the players and the coaches,' Hughes said. 'I''ve learned a lot from Coach Poole and now I want to be a coach after I''m done and keep going with track. I really just want to have no regrets.'
For a moment, the stories and the thoughts of these dedicated athletes allow a glimpse in to the life of being in track. It is a life with little recognition and driven by a desire to better one''s self.
BYU has high hopes for the track team this year: 'Our distance runners are always strong,' Poole said. 'This year we look really good in the jumps. The throws have improvement; we''re good in the hurdles. We''ll have pretty good balance which is what we strive for.'
'I think we can realistically expect an Mountain West Championship, both indoors and outdoors,' Elggrin said. 'We want to qualify as many people for nationals as possible.'
But the track teams don''t define success by what happens just in the meets; they seem to feel the lessons learned and the challenges overcome have far greater value.
'Track not only teaches you how to be faster and stronger,' Flint said, 'but it teaches you mental toughness and self-discipline as well. It''s a good foundation for our every day life.'