Track and field is a sport that combines individual effort with team building. Being on track is a balancing act between pushing personal limits and supporting your teammates. While running can be therapeutic to many people, when you are part of a team holding your own weight, it can be a stressful experience. However, those who are on Cardozo’s Girls Indoor Track Team find passion and progress in the midst of the stress that comes along the way.
Saniyah Nixon, a runner on the indoor track team, shared that she joined track for one reason: college scholarships. Being on the team, she stays locked in because she knows that is her goal.
“What I always tell myself is that I’m doing this for a reason. I’m doing this for a scholarship and I will get that scholarship,” she explained. “Hard work always pays off, and this will be beneficial to me in the future.”
Nixon also contributed her desire to join track to Coach Taylor, Cardozo’s well known track coach. “I basically chose this track team because of coach Taylor. He is a really good coach. I transferred to this school for track and I’ve been doing track my whole life,” she reflected.
“Coach Taylor knew me for the longest time. I knew being on the team would benefit me and help me become a better runner with better training,” Nixon added.
Sani Straker, on the other hand, joined for the sense of community. “It helps you balance your health and is a good way to make exercising fun and have a purpose,” she reflected. As a community, the team has had a lot of accomplishments together that Straker said they enjoyed as a team.
“One of my proudest moments was when we won borough champs. That was a very emotional moment for the team as well as for me,” she said. “Everybody felt like we all accomplished something so big after all the hard work we put in at practice. It all paid off and we did it as a team. We had so much fun afterwards.”
For Kylie Comas, this isn’t the first time she has ran on a track team. “I started when I was 8, so I just continued to do it during middle school and high school,” she explained.
Balancing being on a team and academics can be challenging, but the indoor tack team finds ways to balance that. Comas said that even though you can’t control the pressure from both ends, she just, “goes with the flow.”
Tracy Michel echoed this, saying that it can be a lot, but track also keeps her balanced. “Track gives something to do so when I get home I can immediately do my homework,” she said.
Behind all of these athletes is Coach Taylor, who shared, “I enjoy seeing the youth I work with grow and mature in all aspects of their lives: socially, emotionally, athletically, and academically.”
Coach Taylor explained that he tries his best not to limit the athletes that he coaches, wanting them to think they are capable of anything that they decide to do. By doing so, he can see where they fit best within the track team.
“A great track athlete is one who sets goals and overcomes all obstacles trying to achieve them. Success is measured in the journey not the outcomes,” he explained.
