My Article

The snow is melting, the birds are coming back and soon the Eastview Lighting Boys track team will start yet another season. The 2009 team had great success, with multiple athletes placing at state. While this is a new year for the boys of black and blue, some of the experienced veterans remain. Senior captains Paul Thompson, Ryan Carriere and David Pearcill return to lead the team to another successful season, while junior standouts Khalil Jordan and Frank Veldman wait in the wings to take over the captaincy. In the underclassmen ranks lies Ken Hoffman, a sophomore, who may have a major impact in just his second season. While the season has yet to pan out, I asked Paul and fellow senior David Hudson what it would be like to suit up for one last run at state. Says Paul “From a personal standpoint, I’m angry because my track career has been hampered by nagging injuries. However, I feel like if I can run as well as I can this year, some of that bitterness can be taken away.” While Paul tries to redeem himself, David isn’t really caught up in the emotions of his last go around. He states “I’m not really taking it different from the start of any other season, or in other words I'm taking it as it is". Asked what goals he would like the team to achieve, Thompson said, “I want this team to go as far as they can. I want to see as many Eastview athletes go to state as I can”. Though it would not be surprising to see both Thompson and Hudson on a podium, in all likelihood, the majority of state participants from Eastview will participate in the three major jumps, long jump, triple jump, and high jump. The jumping events are Eastview’s bread and butter, essentially their safe haven of all events. Leading the jumpers is the aforementioned Frank Veldman and Khalil Jordan. Veldman and Jordan won multiple events last year at the state level and look forward to repeating their success.
Now we turn our attention to the schedule itself. Captains practices have been going on for a few now but soon the real trek will begin for the boys. The first track practice of the season starts next week. While it will take the boys some time to get back into shape and to acclimate themselves to the weather, they cannot take too long because of what looms in the near future. Two weeks after practice begins, the team will take the field for the first meet of the season on March 27th. With some snow perhaps left in the forecast, the meet will be held in an indoor stadium in River Falls. Barring injuries everyone is expected to perform in their respective events. For Paul, those events would be the 1600 and 3200 meter race. He will also be an alternate for the javelin throw. For David, he plans to run in the 100 and 200-meter races. Finally Frank will look to execute his jumps perfectly as he will participate in all three jumping events. All three of these outstanding scholar athletes will look to master their crafts by the time section meets come around. Those meets are to start on the 11th of May, where they will face some of the elite track programs in the state. Schools like White Bear Lake and Stillwater look to thwart Eastview, but little do they know of the power that lies in the Blue Black and White.