When reading newspapers or listening to announcements, sports such as basketball, football and baseball often receive the majority of attention in high school athletics. However, one sport that doesn’t get much attention is track and field which, in my opinion, is a shame.

I have ran track all throughout high school, both indoor and outdoor, and I’ve become accustomed to the typical views people have of the sport. There’s the typical “track is just a bunch of skinny guys who can’t play other sports” or “track is easy. Run fast and turn left.”

These statements couldn’t be further than the truth. You think track is just a bunch of skinny guys who can’t play other sports? Look up Asafa Powell or Justin Gatlin. They are anything but skinny and I guarantee you that no one would want to meet them on the football field.

Speaking of football and track, 22 of the 32 first round picks in the NFL draft were high school track and field athletes. The most popular and physically demanding sport in America is infested with players with histories in track.

Track requires constant training to stay in peak shape and technique work almost everyday to help push yourself above other runners. In a sport like track where all the runners are fast, running form and block starts are what sets runners apart. It’s not just running fast; there’s so much more to track than that.

Go watch a track meet and I can guarantee you will have your breath taken away by some of the things that these kids are doing. DGS has 26 runners that are running the mile in under five minutes– which is ridiculous– and five runners under 10 minutes in the two mile. Try to go out and run two miles in under ten minutes. I would put my money on you collapsing and puking. DGS has athletes that are jumping over 20 feet, which, when you think about it, is like flying through the air.

In the state of Illinois, a state that usually is only recognized for high school basketball, I watched Kahmari Montgomery run a 400 meter in high school then proceed to win the indoor SEC conference title in the same event as a freshman at Missouri. THE SEC! The very same league that all these amazing athletes we watch in football and basketball play in. A kid one year out of high school from Illinois would have beat them all in a 400 meter race.

I’ve also witnessed Ja’Mari Ward, a jumper from Cahokia high school, literally float through the air and land on the edge of a long jump pit. The kid could long jump 26 feet and triple jump nearly 54 feet! He was the number one triple jumper in the entire nation. He’s another Illinois kid who went to the University of Missouri on a track scholarship.

While I love watching football, basketball and baseball, there’s nothing like watching track in person. I was able to go to the Illinois State track meet last year and it was better than any high school sport I’ve ever watched. You want to see high school athletes compete and do ridiculous things? Go to the State track meet– it’s better than any other Illinois high school state championship event.

I realize that track and field will never gain the same attention that football, basketball and baseball receive, but it deserves much more than it has been given. The myths surrounding track are disrespectful to the sport and the athletes that go out everyday and work their hardest to achieve success.

It’s time to give track the attention and respect that it deserves because it’s a truly breathtaking sport to watch and produces the best athletes I’ve ever witnessed in high school.