Being the largest sport at OHS, with close to 400 kids on the team, Track and Field has earned plenty of gold medals and a name brand to match them. Success is not only a goal but is also attainable with new records broken every year, 2025 not an exception, and athletes are already earning new plaques.
With a multitude of coaches, volunteers, and excited community members, the 2025 Track and Field season is the culmination of years of hard work built into one.
“It says a lot because O’Connor has the biggest team in the state, so it says a lot about the coaches and the community,” said Cory Beckman, senior [400 and 200 sprinter].
With such a large and established program, it is easy to feel intimidated and nervous when starting out and trying to figure out where you belong among the team.
“When you’re starting out, trying to compare yourself to just yourself, not comparing yourself to those elite level, state level, and even national level sprinters, jumpers, throwers, and just trying to improve yourself instead of looking for the medals,” said Tanner Larsen, senior [Thrower].
With a sport made up of many outlets of interest and several various events, finding where one fits within it is not only important but necessary to work towards moving forward.
“Our [event] is a little longer than most, it’s more endurance based for sure, with also speed. The 800 is a mix, sprinting just two laps, and the 1600 is all endurance, so you have to have iron lungs for that,” said Ariana Mason, senior [800 and 1600 runner].
To outsiders looking in, the sport may seem straightforward, but in reality there are nuances that OHS athletes have to learn and work at in order to be successful.
“I think a lot of people don’t know that it’s actually hard. Running in a straight line is not easy. There’s a lot more than just running fast and sprinting,” said Ava Hannosh, junior [100, 200,4×1,4×4 sprinter].
No matter what event within the sport, the effort put forward outside of the meets is what pushes those to break records and make it to state.
“The hardest part is definitely the workouts behind the scenes, because the easiest part is competing. So as long as you get all of the hard workouts in before the meet, the meet should be easy for you,” Hannosh said.
The 2025 season came with a multitude of athletes transferring to the OHS Track and Field team. With the new talent also comes hindrances, such as transfer rules mandating the athletes to sit out for half of the in-season meets.
“It’s been hard; most of the sprinters right now are injured anyways, but there’s a difference [between] being injured and not being able to run, and then being able to run but not being allowed to run,” Beckman said.
Regardless of technicalities within the sport, OHS has built a name not just on numbers and medals, but unity, drawing in athletes who aspire to be a part of its renowned culture.
“Here [at OHS], just the community, everyone is always supportive and we’re more of a team…here we ride the bus there [and] ride the bus back, we support each other and we’re the best teammates we can for each other,” Beckman said.
