Although blue skies and sunny forecasts have broken through the wintry weather conditions, prior to the first day of spring, there were mountains of snow that turned into runoff rivers and massive flooding. This weather consumed the eyes of millions around the Midwest – especially those of spring sport athletes who were dying to train on the soccer pitch, baseball field, or, for Corey Krueger (10), the outdoor track.

“I like going to the meets because a lot of them are during school and there are a lot of people who do it so I have a lot of friends,” Krueger said.

Being a long distance runner, Krueger has spent nearly every practice training outside. However, that isn’t the case for the majority of the nearly 200-person team who is cooped up inside. “Long distance? We’re troopers so we still ran outside. Short distance [runners], if it’s below 40 degrees, [they] doesn’t usually go outside,” Krueger said.

As a result of this, hurdlers, sprinters, throwers and jumpers had to patiently wait for the snow to melt and clear their practice areas, while long distance runners made use of nearby bike paths and parking lots.

Luckily, the first meet of the season was held at Concordia University’s indoor track, but the Varsity relay races, held on, Thursday March 21, were hosted by the University of Nebraska Wesleyan’s outdoor facilities. However, team scores were not kept at this meet since it was unique and strictly relays.

Now that snow and ice seem to be cleared from the track at Southeast, it is likely that the Track team will be able to get back into the full swing of things and head into the next part of their season without having to worry about raging weather.