What is Track & Field?
Track and Field is a fun and exciting sport that allows athletes to compete based on their speed and strength. There are two main parts, the track side and the field side
TRACK Track consists of several events that are all held on a 400 meter track. The events can be as short as 100 meters to as long as 3200 meters. The track events are often divided into two parts: sprints and distance. Sprints include the 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, and 400 meter run. Distance includes the 800 meter run, 1600 meter run, and 3200 meter run. Track also includes hurdle events, where athletes have to jump over hurdles as they are running. These events are often lumped into the sprinting category. There are two hurdle events: the 100 meter hurdles (which is 110 meters for boys) and the 300 meter hurdles. The hurdles are adjusted by height for each event: 30" for the girls 300 meter race, 33" for the girls 100 meter race, 36" for the boys 300 meter race, and 39" for the boys 110 meter race. Track also includes relays. This is where teams of 4 pass batons between each other. Relays are fun and exciting and add a team component to track. There are 4 relays currently competed in the Utah 6A level: 4 x 100 meter relay, 4 x 200 meter relay, 4 x 400 meter relay, 4 x 800 meter relay. FIELD The field events consist of 6 events that are held in various spots around the stadium. The field events are generally divided into two types: throws and jumps. Throws focus on an athlete's strength. These events allow athletes who focus on strength rather than speed to excel. For throws there are three events: javelin, shot put, and discus. Javelin is essentially throwing a spear, shot put is throwing a heavy metal ball, and discus is essentially throwing a metal frisbee. For jumps there are three events: high jump, long jump, and pole vault. High jump is based on how high an athlete can jump, long jump is based on how far an athlete can jump, and pole vault is based on how high an athlete can jump while using a pole. SCORING Scoring in track & field is based on individual performances. All individual scores for a team are added together to get a team's total score. The team with the highest score wins. Team scores are separate for boys and girls. For example, in the 2022 Region 2 Championship boys 1600 meter race, Cole Jameson got 2nd, Noah Tucker got 3rd, and Preston Gledhill got 4th. For most large meets in high school, 1st place gets 10 points and the scores decrease until 8th place, which gets 1 point. For their performances, Cole got 8 points, Noah got 6 points, and Preston got 5 points. Their scores were added to the Taylorsville boy's team score. In the 1600 meter race, Taylorsville received 21 total points based on the performance of those three athletes. A TYPICAL PRACTICE Practice happens every day, Monday through Friday, from roughly mid February until mid May (except days there is no school, unless otherwise stated). Practice starts promptly at 2:30 on the track or inside the school during inclement weather. Practice starts by doing a warm up lap and stretching. After completing the warmup the athletes separate into their respective events. For example distance will go with their coach and probably do a run while throwers will go with their coach and practice throwing or lifting. Practice ends between 3:30-4:00, depending on each athlete's event. MEETS Region meets happen every Wednesday. These are meets that anyone from the team can participate in. The region meets start around 3 and finish between 6-7 PM. Invitationals generally happen on weekends. These are events for varsity athletes that they may have to qualify for. These meets are often longer, sometimes the entire day, and consist of the top athletes from around the state. |