Track teams finally get their first meet

Typically by this time of year, high school track teams are well into their season, having competed in as many as three or four meets.

But that is when they are competing only against each other. This year, nature has decided to enter the race in a grand fashion.

At L.D. Bell and Trinity, track teams were preparing to compete for the first time all season last weekend.

“I have been coaching track at Bell for 22 years and have never seen a year like this with the weather,” said Bell coach Gerald Smith. “We’ve never gone through spring break without a meet.”

Ditto for Trinity coach David Ryon, who has been at the Trojans’ helm for a decade.

“Unlike anything we have ever experienced,” he said. “We worked out on the days we could outside, and on other days shared our indoor facilities with the other sports. Some days, just no workout.”

The Bell girls have won district six consecutive seasons, while the boys have won district three of the past four.

“We also take a lot of pride in having success on the JV level as well,” Smith said.

The Trinity boys won district in 2013 for the first time in 20 years, sandwiched in between runner-up finishes in 2012 and 2014. The Lady Trojans are consistently in the top three in district.

As it seems to be across the board in all sports, track in District 7-6A will be extremely competitive this year, both coaches said.

“Southlake Carroll and Coppell are in our district for the first time since I have been here. They are traditionally competitive. Bell, Colleyville, Richland and Haltom will have athletes that will pose problems for all of us,” Ryon said.

“I expect the district meeting to be exciting.”

Smith echoed those thoughts.

“Wow, this district is going to be tough,” he said. “There are a lot of great schools who do a great job of promoting and coaching track. The top teams in the district will be really good overall teams.

“It won’t get any easier after district. Our area meet will be in Cedar Hill. That will be a mini-regional meet in and of itself. I think you will see a lot of state qualifiers come out of that area meet.”

Ryon believes that even though the weather delayed the start of the season, it could also help later.

“We’ve never started a season where the weather has been so horrible,” he said. “We might have missed one meet early, but never two meets before spring break (in years past). (But) I think it will cause our athletes to peak later in the spring.”

This story was originally published March 23, 2015 at 11:56 AM with the headline "Track teams finally get their first meet."