The sport of track and field has been around about as long as humans have. According to AthleticScholarships.net, the first running events may have been recorded as early as the ninth century in Olympia, a society among the Greek culture. The sport more officially came into existence in 776 B.C. when a cook named Koroibos ran and won a 600-foot dash in the original Olympic stadium. Of course, the sport expanded beyond running over the years into the many events we know today.

The season for Park University’s track and field team started off with a bang. In the meet on Jan. 19 at Johnson

 County Community College in Overland Park, two athletes qualified for nationals. Senior Jerosan Fletcher measured 5.72 meters in the long jump,

and senior Aaliyah Brown threw 13.4 meters in shot put to start the season strong. But these athletes are no strangers to the road towards an All-American designation; both have done it season after season since their sophomore year.

For the men, junior Nicholas Rotich won the 3,000 meters in 9:02.

In the season’s second meet at Pittsburg State on Jan. 27, seven track and field athletes set personal bests. Brown broke a school record for shot put as well as her personal record, with a throw of 14.33 meters.

Only three more indoor track meets are left this season. With so little time left, the pressure is high to qualify for nationals. Instead of focusing on simply qualifying, most of the participants on the team have said they are looking forward to the outdoor part of the season, where they typically perform better.

The team also has a lot of optimism around the new freshmen and transfer athletes. There are 17 freshmen listed on the men’s roster and five on the women’s roster. Further, they are coached by Brian Renshaw, in his 27^th season at Park. The team has focus and respect for the plans the coaching staff is putting in place. The relays are projected to qualify for nationals, so there are a lot of exciting developments to keep looking for in the future.