Track & Field: No offseason for distance racers

The competitive collegiate season never stops for distance runners. Rather than enter a long offseason until next fall arrives, members of the men’s and women’s cross country teams head straight into preparations for the indoor track campaign. However, while cross country, as well as winter and spring track, all essentially involve running races, for the Princeton runners, the seasons are distinctly different.

Instead of taking place over a half-mile square stretch of rolling hills and grass as in cross country, an entire meet is crammed into Jadwin Gymnasium during the indoor track season. With a variety of track and field events all taking place at the same, the atmosphere can be intense.

“What’s awesome about indoor is that you’re taking all of the energy and enthusiasm surrounding the competition and concentrating all of that into a relatively small space,” junior Alexis Mikaelian said. “The atmosphere is electric.”

Middle distance specialists like Mikaelian are generally excited to get moving in the shorter, faster races. In fact, during the track season, Mikaelian rarely competes over distances longer than a mile.

“I’m definitely a more track-oriented runner. Don’t get me wrong; I love both sports, and I find that the track betters suits my strengths,” Mikaelian said. “I prefer the middle and upper-middle distances, so the six-kilometer cross country race is still a lot of running for me.”

Even longer-distance runners who prefer cross country enjoy the opportunity to step down and run some fast times on the flat track surfaces. Freshman Edward Owens excels more at racing cross country and the outdoor steeple than the shorter mile and 3000-meter races he will likely face indoors. Nevertheless, he is far from being disappointed about having the opportunity to challenge himself over a range of distances, even the shorter ones.

“Whenever a non-runner asks me about my mile personal record, I always have to give the weak answer that I’m not much of a miler and I never ran a mile all-out my senior year,” Owens said. “I know I’ll get the chance to run fast in every event this year, and I’m confident I can run the sort of times I want to hit.”

Still, the prospect of running around a 200-meter oval that is over eight laps to a mile in the stale air of a gym is daunting to anyone. Waning daylight, freezing temperatures and icy, snow-covered trails and roads can make training more unpleasant for some.

“If I’m going to be completely honest ... cross country is far and away my favorite. I just love the grass, hills and the fact that you can never be perfectly precise,” senior women’s captain Alex Banfich said. “Sometimes a 5K on the track can make you dizzy to be honest ... 24 laps is a lot indoors!”

While many of the Tigers share Banfich’s sentiments, Mikaelian spoke for others when she said the energy present at crowded indoor meets makes everything worth it.

“Even though indoor has tighter turns and you get cotton mouth after every race, even smaller meets have an electric atmosphere, since the venue is so much smaller and everything is packed into small gyms,” senior men’s co-captain Donn Cabral said.

The transition from cross country to track also marks a significant change in the team’s atmosphere. In particular, track is when the sprinters, throwers, jumpers and distance runners can all interact as part of one team. The team atmosphere helps everyone bond together as a cohesive squad. Nonetheless, team dynamics within a cross country team are always different than those within a track team.

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Junior middle distance runner Peter Callahan regrets the lack of unified workouts and preseason training that make cross country teams so close-knit.

“Coming onto campus early in September gives us a chance to really get closer as a team, and there are fewer things which create more solidarity than the shared experience of a hard run,” Callahan said. “I wish we could have a preseason with the whole track team, but by the time the indoor season rolls around, there is no question that cross country and track have become one.”

Even though the entire team is responsible for scoring the maximum amount of points possible during track meets in order to win, track is still a highly individual sport. This aspect gives a new dynamic to the competition.

“In a cross country race, ‘team’ is about giving all you have between the start line and the finish line, because you know every other runner in a Princeton uniform is doing the same for you,” Mikaelian said. “In track races, ‘team’ is about momentum. Momentum connects the event groups. Seeing your teammates excel in their event motivates you to get the job done in yours.”

Regardless of whether track is the preferred season or not, the Tigers are eager to compete again. The endurance-favored phase of cross country is taking a back seat; it is now time to start running fast.

“I’m ready to start heating it up in the next few weeks and getting the turnover faster,” Banfich said. “I left cross country behind, but I’m not nostalgic — just ready for the next season.”