On Monday, November 28th, winter sports season officially began at Hingham High. The fall season, though it did not end that long ago for many, seems just a blur compared to what is to come in the winter season, including a variety of sports: ski team for one, gymnastics, basketball, and wrestling.

Piling into the cafeteria, many students from all types of fall sports-ranging from soccer, volleyball, field hockey, and crew-gather around and make up the Indoor Track Teams. Senior and Captain of Cross Country, Zach Lytle, could not be more excited to start the season, “It’s enjoyable and it has been nice to see new kids showing up and starting to run for the first time”. Even the coaches are just as excited for the season to finally begin as new and old athletes.

Everyday the athletes, like any other sport, are expected to come prepared to exercise and participate. However, winter track season is much more complicated than the fall season or spring season. Winter season is cold, it snows, and sometimes athletes would rather just go home and cuddle up with some hot cocoa then run outside.

Many runners can be seen trekking with three or four coats to shield themselves from the climatic elements. Not to mention, the raincoats so far this week. The rain will not let up and neither will the athletes, who pave their way through the puddles and out for their run. As the temperatures slowly drop, so does the amount of sunlight in each day, making it crucial for practice to run timely and to utilize as much daylight as possible. Nobody likes running in the dark, especially when it is cold and sometimes even rainy, though the snow is not far behind. For sprinters, and sometimes mid-distance runners, the cold sometimes means running inside the school, though a favorite of many with permission to actually “run” in the hallways and not get reprimanded. Anybody who runs two laps on the track and up can be witnessed outside most of the time. Throwers can be seen lifting in the shed by the track, though their equipment as cold as the frost on the grass. One touch of the bar on the bench and immediately numbness runs through their hands. Junior Michael Hill fairly enjoys winter track, “even though my fingers are literally freezing, nothing can stop me from running and lifting”.

Despite the weather challenges, track athletes are looking forward to the winter season and once again racing at the Reggie Lewis Track in Boston. Over the past few months, many high school indoor track teams were not sure if they were even going to have a season due to the controversy surrounding their indoor track. The Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center is home to track meets from high school to the collegiate level. A few months ago the Roxbury Community College Leadership dismissed the longtime director Keith McDermott. However, following the debate, the track is safely secured for high school athletes, as well as the collegiate level, keeping the sport alive for those who love it.