Ride Home Rants
Ride Home Rants
Frozen Puddles, Flying Javelins, and Floating Takeoff Boards: Track Season Is Coming!
Lacing up for track season brings a flood of memories to anyone who's ever competed, and this star-studded panel takes us straight to the starting blocks. From Olympic trial qualifier Jose Jefferson who triple jumped 51'11" to All-American javelin thrower Lauren Lubarski who broke her university record as a freshman, these track legends deliver a masterclass in what it takes to excel in the sport.
The conversation quickly reveals how track and field creates versatile athletes – Jose competed in five events at one meet, while Lauren transitioned from discus national champion in high school to javelin standout in college. As Coach Andy Upton shares insights from his impressive 27-year coaching career, we discover how knowledge gets passed down through generations, with many former competitors now coaching the next wave of talent.
Nothing bonds track athletes like suffering through brutal weather conditions. Stories of competing in hailstorms, running through snow-covered tracks, and watching high jump bars fall from wind gusts before jumpers even approach bring knowing laughter from everyone involved. Coach Upton's tale of squeegeeing water off floating long jump boards demonstrates the dedication coaches bring to helping athletes succeed regardless of conditions.
When the discussion turns to the most challenging event in track and field, the 800-meter race narrowly edges out the 400-meter hurdles and 10K distance. This friendly debate highlights the respect these athletes have for disciplines outside their specialties – sprinters acknowledging distance runners' endurance while throwers recognize the technical demands of hurdle events.
For current and aspiring track athletes listening, this episode offers more than nostalgic war stories. I
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Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home Rants podcast. This is your favorite special guest, host Fitty, and today I bring you an outstanding episode with a great panel of guests literally coming from all over the country, from all types of backgrounds. Today we have the All Things Track and Field Show, and what a better show to have in the month of March. We have track season right around the corner for all of us track fans out there. A lot of us are going to talk about our personal experience today in coaching and being a former athlete at the high school and college level. Before we jump into the show, though, make sure you keep all the sponsors in the pre-roll and the post-roll, as all of these sponsors are small business owners who are great sponsors of this show, and we can't have Ride Home Rants without them and, of course, all you fans.
Speaker 1:So, without further ado, we're going to jump into the whole things track and field show. I have some great guests today. People have competed at the high Division I level, people who have tried out for the Olympics, record-setting coaches, champions all around in every single event. We're going to dive right into it. So, everyone, thank you so much for being here. We're going to have you introduce yourself. Tell us what your favorite salad dressing is, and then what city and state are you from originally? So let's start with Jose.
Speaker 2:My name is Jose Jefferson. My favorite salad dressing I'm a ranch guy and I hail from Omaha, nebraska.
Speaker 1:Perfect Lauren.
Speaker 3:Hi everyone. I'm Lauren Labarski. My favorite salad dressing would be probably a cilantro lime, and I am from Pittsburgh, pennsylvania.
Speaker 4:Okay, Uh, Chris my name's Christopher Marsco, Favorite salad dressing Uh, I got to go with Italian, playing it safe but consistent. And uh, I hail from Cortland, Ohio, and uh, Northern Trumbull County. Some may know Warren, some may know Youngstown and if you don't know Youngstown, Cleveland.
Speaker 1:Kind of far off. But I dig it, chris, I dig it, byron.
Speaker 5:Byron Mayers, I'm not going to lie, I'm a weirdo. I don't eat salad, so I don't have a favorite salad dressing.
Speaker 1:You don't eat salad at all.
Speaker 5:No, okay, I can't do it Too healthy, too healthy for me, okay, but I'm, I'm from uh, st claire's, ohio okay, um coach upton my name is andy upton uh, favorite salad dressing.
Speaker 6:I'll go with blue cheese. You can put it on Chick-fil-A too, byron, and I'm originally from Hurricane, west Virginia. Okay, colin.
Speaker 7:I am Colin Pope. My favorite salad dressing right now is probably French, and I am from a small town just outside of Youngstown, ohio.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 8:Aaron, aaron Fry, you're on mute. Yeah, yeah, sorry guys, my name is Aaron Fry. My favorite salad dressing is just original. I like ranch. I like ranch. It's very original and I'm from a small town 30 minutes east of Pittsburgh called Vandegrift, pennsylvania.
Speaker 1:Okay, and we had our last guest, austin. Jump on, austin. We're going to just introduce yourself. What's your favorite salad dressing and where are you from originally?
Speaker 9:Hi everyone. I'm Austin Dudley Favorite salad dressing ranch. And then I'm from South City, st Louis, missouri.
Speaker 1:Okay, ranch is the big winner. On the salad dressing, I'm actually an oil and vinegar guy. You know, being Italian, you grow up on the oil and vinegar on the salad on Sundays, so I'm definitely an oil and vinegar guy. I actually had that tonight. It was very healthy until I ate the grilled cheese right next to it. Not so healthy. So we're going to dive right into the topics here. So we're going to dive right into the topics here. So we're going to go Jose, lauren Chris Byron, coach Upton, colin Fry and Austin, and we're going to kind of go through these. So just on this one, did you run track in college and, if so, where did you run and what event did you do Jose?
Speaker 2:Yes, I went to University of South Dakota and I was an All-American in the 5500 long jump, triple jump, high jump. I did the four by one as well.
Speaker 1:Okay, lauren.
Speaker 3:Hi guys. So I went to East Carolina University, which is a Division I school in North Carolina because there's no East Carolina but I threw the javelin, I high jumped, I did the heptathlon for a little bit, I threw the discus, but I was All-American in the javelin throw, top two all time at my university in the high jump. I threw the discus, oddly, in college but was also a national and state champion in high school. Um, so, knowing that, I kind of dropped that event once I got to college after my first year, it's so wild how it all planned out, but I would say I identify as a javelin thrower and a high jumper at this point okay, uh, marsco I mean, I guess one of these things is not like the others.
Speaker 4:I have no collegiate athletic experience other than getting to coach football Youngstown State for three years. My track career got underway. We were a good small school Lakeview High School. I threw shot, put and discus. Wasn't good enough to go anywhere, but real solid for the school and division we were at.
Speaker 5:Okay, byron, yes, I was fortunate enough to get anywhere, but real solid for the school and division we were at. So okay, byron, yes, I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to run at bethany college thanks to my man, andy upton, up there. Uh, when I was there I basically did all the sprints uh, four by four, four by one, four by two, uh, 200, 100. And then indoor was all the short relays, short sprints.
Speaker 1:Okay, how about you, coach Upton?
Speaker 6:I actually did not participate in track and field in college. I happened to go to a college, west Virginia Tech, that did not have track and field at the time and ended up playing college football there at a small Division II school in Montgomery, west Virginia, before I graduated and left West Virginia Tech and ended up getting my feet wet at West Virginia Westland where I started my track career as a young coach many, many, many, many years ago and when he says many years ago, it just means like maybe five, so six.
Speaker 1:Okay, we'll go with even six. So, colin, how about you?
Speaker 7:yeah, so I unfortunately, uh, did not get the opportunity to throw at the collegiate level. I was a shot put and discus thrower for my high school, lovo High School, just outside of Youngstown, and, like Fitty said at the beginning here, I did at one point hold the school's record for discus, which has now been rebroken again since I've been graduated.
Speaker 1:So how about you Fry?
Speaker 8:So I ran at Bethany College, was recruited Basically I was a football player recruited. I talked to Coach Upton and he was like hey, you want to come out and jump for me? I ended up doing track for three years and was predominantly a high jumper and a long jumper.
Speaker 1:OK, how about you, Austin?
Speaker 9:Yeah, I ran at Webster University in St Louis and I did both indoor and outdoor track. I did 800 all the way up to 5K.
Speaker 1:Okay, and then I of course ran for Coach Upton many, many years ago, mainly just five years ago I still think I'm in my 20s, but no, a long time ago my main things were the javelin and long jump coming in, and Coach Upton convinced me to run the 200. So I did that and did a little bit of everything else under the sun, which we'll kind of talk about here a little later. So next one we want to kind of go into is you know, a lot of us have some type of background in coaching or being involved outside of being an athlete in track. So that's what we're going to kind of get into. So you know, so, are you currently or have you coached track and field previously?
Speaker 2:So, jose, I, coached high school track for five years and I coached college track for six years and in between that I had a career coaching football 10 years of high school, three as a head coach, 12 years of college, 14 years indoor football and I did internships with the Packers and the Vikings and I spent two years in the XFL.
Speaker 1:And Jose, what college did you coach at?
Speaker 2:again, I coached at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and I was there two years coaching football and track and then I coached. I was the assistant athletic director and then director of jumps for Viterbo university and lacrosse.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, I'm sure, maybe at some point, maybe you and coach Upton have crossed past against. You might have. Yeah, you might have. How about you, lauren? Yeah, you might have. How about you, lauren, lauren?
Speaker 3:Sorry, I was trying to unmute myself, but yeah, I've actually helped a lot of local athletes in the area here in Pittsburgh, pennsylvania, with their track and field expertise. I've gotten an opportunity to work with a lot of athletes that now are throwing javelin in college and high jumping One of my previous athletes. I actually was coaching her in the volleyball and she asked me to give her some private javelin lessons and now she's actually throwing at Louisville. But I could say that it's the thing that just keeps on giving. Definitely, if you know how to do something, you can definitely return the favor and just keep promoting this sport in different ways with the youth athletes. But, um, I could just say personally, it's just been such a great opportunity to be able to give back, regardless of how that they even operate or how far they throw. But, um, yeah, I've been able to coach a little bit awesome, awesome, uh.
Speaker 1:How about you coach marsco?
Speaker 4:hey, so I'm a uh football coach by trade. Uh, this will be my 11th uh season on the sidelines coming up in the fall. Um, this spring will be my fourth year as a track and field coach uh, mahoning valley. I've also spent three years as a junior high basketball coach. That's a lot less uh publicized and that's a good thing. But uh, yeah, and I uh, I really get to. I enjoy track because there's a lot, a lot of symmetry with football and you know a lot of the same athletes and you know enjoying it myself. It's really, uh, I don't know, like everyone's mentioned so far, very rewarding to get to see, you know, prs and uh, just kind of different work. You get the team aspect, but it's also the individual thing too, so very unique absolutely, um, how about you, byron?
Speaker 5:yeah, so I'm going into my fourth year coaching. I did um three years at a school uh called Buckeye Local where I did one year as an assistant, then I was two years as the head boys coach where I was helping rebuild the program, and then um this past year I uh had another job opportunity, which I took, and I'm currently at uh, st clarenceville high school, where I am on as a assistant sprint coach okay.
Speaker 6:Well, I guess for the most seasoned guy here, coach upton don't know if it's a good thing, bad thing experienced, yeah, we'll say that. Um, I am starting my I guess, 27th year coaching. Um 24 of those 20, 23 of those I was involved in college football and track and field at the same time. All said and done, I've been, I think, 26 years as a track and field coach, been at W&J for the last two years. Before that I was 19 years as the head coach up at Bethany College. That I was 19 years as the head coach up at Bethany College, um, and, like I stated earlier, I was five years before that at West Virginia Wesleyan College as well.
Speaker 1:Okay, how about you, colin?
Speaker 7:yeah, so no, uh, no official coaching experience for me. Um, I suppose the closest I could say I've gotten is uh assisting with the junior high uh track and field team, just uh. If my memory serves me, we're going back in the archives a little bit, but Colin, you know what you always used to say, how you worked.
Speaker 1:The track meets for us.
Speaker 7:Back in the day after you graduated that wasn't a long time ago, though, giving pointers, that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:How about you Fry?
Speaker 8:I have. So I spent one year coaching at Bethany College as a GA and then I got on at my old high school, Kiske Area High School, Ended up coaching football on track there for five years before I moved to Wilmington, Delaware. I had a couple of coaching opportunities out here but just because my daughter's so young I didn't kind of seize those opportunities. So eventually, when she gets older, I'll get back into that coaching field.
Speaker 9:Okay, how about you Austin? Yeah, I've helped at some high schools coaching and then I used to coach at assistant coach at Cuyahoga Community College and then currently right now I just freelance a little, help some ultra marathon runners build some plans.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, so I coached for a number of years I coached. I got to really think now as I am digging into the archives for myself five, six, eight so 12 years for football, eight for track and field had a chance to coach with. You know my, you know my mentor here, coach Upton. He got a chance to coach a couple people on the call here and you know my mentor here, coach Upton. He got a chance to coach a couple people on the call here and you know coach with some people too. So a lot of awesome experiences there. And fun fact, coach Upton can back me up I was the interim head coach twice for Bethany College, for a total of one hour on two different occasions.
Speaker 1:One hour Best hour, yep, besides being married, that was like the best hour of my life being the head track and field coach at Bethany College, because no one I didn't have to answer to anyone. Everyone had the answer to me. It was a great, great feeling. So the next thing I want to go into in all seriousness is the greatest track accomplishment you have as a coach or an athlete. So you can just, you know, really pick one, depending on you know what it is.
Speaker 1:I'll kind of let all of you think about this. I'm going to answer this first. I'm going to say probably the greatest accomplishment I had in track and field was when I set the Bethany record for most events in one meet under Coach Upton. At our first ever mini meet in 2010, I ran the 100 200 4x1 4x4 through the javelin, the shot put and I long jumped that day and I PR'd in four of those set season bests in two of them and placed in three of them. So that was probably my proudest accomplishment in uh in, in one, in one meet. Even though there's a lot of proud accomplishments as a coach, that was probably my proudest accomplishment as a athlete. So, jose, we'll start with you and I I hope you say when you made to the olympic trials.
Speaker 2:But you know, no, that's that really wasn't. I mean it was. It was a nice honor to. I mean mean you earn it. Nobody gives it to you but, um, you know a lot of that was. That was amazing.
Speaker 2:I I enjoy coaching. I coached um, a kid at Viterbo who ended up being fifth at indoor nationals, u S indoor nationals, the pro circuit, and um you know, and he started out as a 21-3 long jumper and when I got done with him at the end of his fourth year he was a 25-2 long jumper. So that was probably the most the best accomplishment as a coach, as an athlete, the Olympics was. I mean, the qualifying was fun, but the one I take the most pride in is that I graduated high school with all of our freshman and varsity jump records high, long and triple. I qualified for state in all three and I placed in all three and I almost won all three but there really wasn't any jump. I don't even know if anybody has done that now. I know in the state of Nebraska nobody has to where they have all their jump records at their school before they graduated, and you know, it's just something that I've always held on to, just to be versatile as a jumper.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, that's awesome. How about you, lauren?
Speaker 3:So I know you asked for one, but I would like to describe my high school and college because I feel like it's two different versions of me. As an athlete, in high school, I won the state and national championship for the discus throw and I was not projected to win in that event at all. I was actually more projected to win in the high jump and or javelin. So for me to win in another event was really eye-opening for me and everybody else, which was a really cool accomplishment. And then, going into college, I was a freshman All-American in the javelin throw, which I broke the school record my freshman year at our conference meet and I made it to Eugene, oregon, to the last round for NCAAs and I placed in the top 15 in the country and I was only a couple of meters off from the world standard and USA Olympic standard that freshman year.
Speaker 3:And I went from being literally trash at the beginning of the year, where they always break you down to build you up, and so we rebuilt my form. So you had to get better before you got, you had to get worse before you got better, and so I really didn't have the hope that it was going to get better before the end of the season, because it usually is two seasons for a javelin thrower. And lo and behold, in Houston, texas, I just threw this bomb of a throw. That just qualified me for all these things. So, yeah, I'm all-american. As a freshman broke the school record which I still have at ECU, and then, um, I was a national champion in high school on the discus, which I didn't even continue to do really in college anymore, which is wild.
Speaker 1:Awesome, thanks for sharing that and go pirates. So how about you, marsco? What's your, what's your greatest accomplishment here as a, as a mighty discus and shot put thrower, or a coach?
Speaker 4:And so probably one of each. So my is an athlete at Lake lakeview high school, my uh sophomore, junior and senior year, uh were the what would that have been 10th, 11th and 12th straight conference and uh titles. Um, we also won the county, like four years in a row. By the time I left, and getting to contribute on a team where we were that well-balanced, with sprinters, jumpers, distance me and my buddy throwing, it was just a really well-rounded, fun group to be around. We really pushed each other, regardless of what the event was, and kind of always remember that and the good camaraderie.
Speaker 4:As a coach though, matt Keeley, who's now an offensive guard at Youngstown State he had not thrown shot put until the spring of his junior year and I finally talked him into going out for it and he improved from picking it up throwing 30-something. I believe he finished around like 42 or 43 feet, just worked at it meticulously and you know when you have raw tools and you pour the effort into it and you get the guidance. I mean, I don't think I'm elite level coaching but I do know a few things and it was cool to be able to see some of the things I learned from, uh, my throne coach dave denman. Uh, you know, pass it on to someone with a lot more god-given talent than me and you know, by the time he was a senior, he was up near 50. So that was probably my biggest accomplishment as a coach.
Speaker 1:Okay, chris, what year did you graduate from Lakeview?
Speaker 4:13. Okay, so Colin probably threw against Chris at some point, probably as well, billy price first meet every year at Fitch, so that was pretty cool. I was like being the shadow. They didn't even really see me standing at the ring.
Speaker 7:I never felt so small as whenever you have to throw against Billy Price.
Speaker 1:So there's a reason he also. That's why he was in the NFL, just throwing that out there. So, byron, how about you? About you? What was that?
Speaker 5:that proudest moment for you in track? Well, I would say as an athlete, um, probably would be my senior year making it to, uh, the state meet and the 100. That was a goal that I had right after my junior year and me and my sprint coach, I we worked all off season to get me there and it was just an amazing experience. Also kind of add in to college wise Coach Huff is probably going to chuckle about this one but probably one of my favorite memories was breaking our four by two record for indoor at Baldwin Wallace. Kind of just add some info. I was just a pup, in his words.
Speaker 5:It was my freshman year and I was fortunate enough to run with some dogs. There was three dudes on our squad. They were elite level runners and jumpers, and here I am just a small town kid being able to run with them, and so we was able to beat that record and pretty cool experience Coaching-wise, you know. Kind of having the opportunity to build a program was really nice. Probably my two favorite memories one I got to send a brother-sister duo to state. One was a senior, the other one was a, a junior. They both made it in the 400 and then, um, actually seeing um the sister. She went and signed to run division one at marshall so she was actually um all in on basketball and I kind of persuaded her and and showed her how fun track is, and now she's actually a conference champion in her freshman year as well.
Speaker 1:Very cool Part of the thundering herd. So, coach Upton, now this is going to be really hard for you. So you got you know three of your former athletes on here. Don't offend any of us.
Speaker 6:I would have to say I mean it is hard. 20-some years of coaching, like I said, you ask that question. There's a lot of memories that start popping in and there's probably a tie of about 100 of them and I could pick any out of it. Just hearing these stories gets kind of cool. Hearing every single one of you say something. It just brings back awesome memories for me and great moments that have happened and I would say grouping all of them together. You know, I think it's really cool and I'm sitting here on a podcast with three people that I coached that they've decided to carry it on to the next level and continue passing on it. You know, maybe some I instilled in you all that you want to keep passing on, but you know it's.
Speaker 6:If I had to go a proud moment, you know I would take I mean, there's so many of them you know from.
Speaker 6:You know from conference championships to individual championships. You know conference championships as a team, I mean very proud of those have my last season at Bethany to take a female jab thrower to the national championship when she hadn't been there before, and then to go to W&J the very next season and take, you know, be a part of two distance runners going to the cross country NCAA championships, carried that right into indoor where now we've got a long jumper as well as a distance runner, and then, you know, to get to the outdoor where we, you know, take a hurdler. You know, to me that was kind of just from a reflection, from a coaching standpoint, to basically have all, basically all event groups kind of represented and you know, I kind of had my hand and and all that a little bit was, you know, kind of a very cool coaching moment. And when you've been doing this that long, um, you appreciate, every time you make it to those meets or every time you win a conference championship because there's a lot of years in between those when they happen Sure, okay, okay, that was it, that's your coaching out at Wisconsin lacrosse and you get to do that stuff all the time.
Speaker 6:Oh man.
Speaker 1:Colin, how about you?
Speaker 7:Yeah. So back back in the day, when, when Johnny was the track and field coach there for us ended up breaking my school's record for discus the Western Reserve Invitational that year that record had been set back in the 60s and I believe the year I broke it was 2013 or 2014,. So a pretty long-standing record, something that I was pretty proud of. Back then I got to actually meet the coach and the athlete we're both still around that set the original record, so that was really neat getting to talk with them guys. Then the one that I like to bring up, uh in close circles all the time, is the unofficial two-time uh iron man four by one champion. Uh, johnny knows all about the iron man four by one, so I'll just leave that one there.
Speaker 1:But that's those are two of my favorite uh memories absolutely, and I will shout out that I had the most athletic throwers ever because the first year we ran the iron man relays at western reserve we were actually the we were the fastest fat man four by one in the entire state. We ran 50.4 seconds. What are four throwers? And colin stood at a six foot like five 250 pounds at that time and a couple other throwers were pretty large and there was one smaller guy. We practiced that for a week. I actually shattered my sunglasses during the four by one because I got so mad and slammed them on the ground, but our boys and girls both won that that year and both were ranked um, like in the in the area, as like one of the better four by ones for a smaller school. That was our throwers. So very, very proud moment. Thank you, colin, for reminding me on that. What about you, aaron Fry? You were part of some some bad-ass teams at Bethany under coach Upton. What's the most proud moment you have from track and field?
Speaker 8:Man. It's a very tough, tough, just like everybody else. Uh, honestly, um, as a teammate, an individual, um, I almost I could go on record to say sometimes I felt like I had more fun doing track than I did football, um, and so it was always cool to see everybody else's motivation and what drove them. I've seen a lot of good individual accomplishments. I coached Upton Well, I guess they were my teammates, but he coached two record-breaking long jumpers who ended up being like I grew really really close with, so it was cool to kind of jump alongside of them and kind of fix their brains, and what I use from that drove me to kind of, I guess, be a better coach and to kind of instill other things within the people that I coached along the way.
Speaker 8:And I think one of my biggest accomplishments as a high jumper at Bethany um, both indoor my first time ever doing high jump in a long time Um, I ended up placing third um in the indoor meet. And then my senior year, I ended up placing second. So I was very proud of that. But my, my happiest moments, we ended up winning the back-to-back championships in the indoor and I think that was really really cool to accomplish something that hasn't been done there in a very, very long time. So you know I can hold my hat on that and say that was the funnest times I pretty much ever had being up at Bethany and running track there.
Speaker 1:Besides becoming friends with Fitty Folk Hunting. Yeah, austin, what about you Round us out on this one?
Speaker 9:Let's see so, thinking about it, when I was at Tri-C it was right around their first year coming back, so the pandemic had made its way through. So we started the program back up, we coached and we pulled the team together out of what we could and they came together and we all won the indoor conference championship. So that to me was a very proud moment, first year there, first year coming back and seeing them all like weren't seated to win. So it was kind of nice nice, okay, next one.
Speaker 1:Now some of you will have a lot of time to think about this, others not so much. But you can't explain why or anything like that. You just are going to name the hardest event in track and field in your opinion. So what is the hardest event in track and field in your opinion can be throwing jumping relays, whatever it may be. But I'll start this out. I'm going to say it's the 800, jose, I would say the 10k, it's the 800. Jose, I would say the 10K Okay.
Speaker 3:Lauren, how about you? I would say the 800, too. It takes a special person to do that.
Speaker 4:Okay, marisco 800's a close second for me. I'd say 400,.
Speaker 2:Though.
Speaker 4:You, though, you gotta have that freaky speed element Still.
Speaker 5:Okay, byron, I thought this question was gonna happen and I've been thinking I'm going with the 800, okay.
Speaker 6:Coach Upton 400 hurdles With 10k right behind it. Okay, how about you, colin? Hurdles with 10k right behind it.
Speaker 1:Okay, how about you, colin?
Speaker 7:Yeah, I think I'm going to have to jump on the bandwagon here and say the 800.
Speaker 8:Okay, fry, I definitely got a bad cold toughening on this one, 400 hurdles or just a different animal?
Speaker 1:Okay, austin.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'd say 400 hurdles and the 10k, those two alone are just okay, okay, I'm surprised nobody said the pole vote, just because that takes so much strength and technique to go into.
Speaker 1:But I would say that the out of 10, the 10k, the 400 hurdles and then the 800, yeah for sure, all right. So the next one, um, the craziest weather meet you've ever been a part of um and that's probably a lot for different ones of us because we've ran kind of all over the country. Um, I will say, when I was coaching uh, probably one of the craziest ones I was ever a part of when I was a young assistant coach and we ran at East Palestine, ohio, and it literally monsooned the entire meet and they're running through puddles on the ground. It was very similar, coach Upton, to PACs in 2021, but at the high school level, which didn't have great drainage, and people were hitting the high jump mat and water was exploding up in the air. So, uh, that was probably the worst meet I've ever ever been a part of, um with PACs in 2021, um being delayed because of the rain as a very close second. So, uh, jose, what do you got for us?
Speaker 2:1988, nebraska State track meet rain and hail at the state meet while I was high jumping. So outside of getting pelted, the high jump pit saturated. So when you cleared the bar all the water came on your head. And then they finally learned and put all the rest of the classes indoors at Boys Town. But yeah, hail, that was different. Rain was one thing, but the hail was. It was pea-sized and you can, it was just bouncing off your head. But I thought for sure they'd cancel it. But it was in the 80s where you know, they thought we were tougher or not as smart.
Speaker 1:You know what the 80s brought? A lot of good things. The Garno, schwarzenegger and and Rocky Balboa, especially Rocky Ford. Um, great thing for the eighties, lauren, how about you? What was that worst weather track meet you were a part of?
Speaker 3:I'm going to have to back date to high school track in Pennsylvania where I grew up. Um, clearly, our Pennsylvania Springs are not springing right away, so you do get like the weird elements of life of snow, hail, wind, and we were actually at our home meet, um, and there was like 30 to 40 mile per hour winds and there's a high jumper. You don't want to, you don't want to knock the bar off, but when the bar keeps falling off because of the wind before you even jump was definitely what we were dealing with, um, and also throwing a javelin into the ground that was frozen, um which the weather was just really cold. We had snow and wind. I could just tell you it was just not a fun time. Um, oddly, I my it performed pretty well, um, and I hate the cold, but, uh, I could tell you that the wind combination with also the cold and the snow was not a fun track and field event. Slash meet.
Speaker 1:Okay, what about you, marsco? What would you say?
Speaker 4:We always started the track season like end of March I think was our first meet and our coach never was the one to pull out anything. So I think the meet started an okay temperature. I was at austintown fitch. Uh it just they had several shot, put rings and the for whatever reason, the one that they picked to use that day was, uh, it ended up being like 30 mile an hour, winds in your face, and then by the time my flight got up it started to have some light snow flurries and, uh, the official decided he wanted to enforce every rule so it couldn't be in your sweat. So you know, trying to just do some burpees and other things to just try to stay warm, hurry up, get out of your sweats, throw, get back in them to stay warm again, uh, and just, you know being tough with we get dealt up here, so I think that adds a cool layer of challenge to it. But yeah, snow and wind in your face, throwing shots pretty tough.
Speaker 5:Okay, what about you, byron? I would say as an athlete, probably even my freshman or sophomore year in college, it was one of our first few outdoor meets and we were going to Mount Union, leaving to it. There's probably at least six inches of snow from Bethany all the way up to Alliance Snow on the ground. They're trying to clear the track for us to start and probably by 2 o'clock it was sunshine and you would have thought it was a normal spring day, so I thought it was just kind of neat. Um, as a coach, um basically had a coach in the morning soon. It was a late track meet dude. We probably had 30 mile an hour win, just nothing but downpour. And they did not cancel the meet, you just ran your event and just kept okay uh, how about you, coach upton?
Speaker 1:you got a lot from over the years. Was it west virginia, wesleyan in the monsoon when only one person triple jumped?
Speaker 6:was it pac in 2021 I I'll piggyback before I go to mine. I'll piggyback on byron's just to have one little thing to mount union. When we went to that one, as we pulled in, they were shoveling. They did not expect that much snow and they were shoveling the discus sector to be clear. So basically there was probably six to eight inches of snow outside of the sector lines and where it landed was green. So if you threw out of the sector you were losing your discus.
Speaker 6:That was the one thing that was really wild as I watched that meet I would say I mean Grove City 2019 at the Pack Championships. It was raining. It rained so hard the whole whole meet that I was one of the coaches, I I had a squeegee, some something, a squeegee, some sort of a brush and I I was by the long jump, uh takeoff board and it was raining so hard. The board was floating and I had to sit there and I was squeegeeing all the water off the board literally when they started their approach so we could keep as much water off of it as we could. If I and another coach weren't doing that, then it literally got like a two-inch puddle before they got to the end of the runway wow, wow.
Speaker 1:Okay, colin, how about you?
Speaker 7:Yeah, so the one that comes to my mind, um, and I don't remember what year it was at this point, but it was Mahoning County meet Um, we were throwing and it was probably 12 degrees outside Um, and we, uh, back then I was a purist and I only like to throw in the uh, the track tank top and the track shorts, so that little layer of protection on when it's it's pretty close to uh to you know, below freezing is, is definitely interesting that was your uh, junior year at canfield.
Speaker 1:Um, it was barbarically cold and it was the day before Easter because you actually gave me your letterman to wear over my stuff because I was so cold. That's right, because your future mother-in-law brought us all coffee and donuts because we were so so cold. Yeah, I remember that now. Yeah, so you knew back then she was a good woman as a mother-in-law and your wife was going to be great because that was 12 years ago. So because that was cold. But if I'm not mistaken, you were the runner up in the discus that year and I believe you took like eighth in the shot put, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 7:I think it's because most of the other people were frozen.
Speaker 1:So whatever gets the job done, mental toughness, right, mental toughness. So uh fry. What about you? What's? What's your worst weather experience with track?
Speaker 8:yeah, so my worst weather experience with track? Uh, my senior year of high school, we used to run at this meet called the igloo. It was in el tuna, pennsylvania, and it always was like the middle of march when, or like the middle of march or late march when the spring season opened. So we left, we left there, we left kiski, like it's probably like a two hour drive or hour and a half drive by bus, but we're driving up and it's like just a whiteout and I'm like like man, this is going to be a horrible day for a track meet.
Speaker 8:But, believe it or not, I was a 300 hurdler and right before my race, which is towards like the back end of the meet, it ends up snowing again and I'm like, dude, what the hell man, like this is ridiculous. Like at that point you just want to just like run, get your clothes back on and find a warm place. Um, but yeah, it was that. That's, that was the worst weather meet that we ever ran in. Um, it was just snowing and really, really like the wind chill was was horrible the whole time gotcha austin.
Speaker 1:How about you?
Speaker 9:I'm sure you've had some doozies out in the st louis area yeah, um, the worst one that comes to mind is probably in high school. I remember it was first meet of the season and it was just, I mean, it was a whiteout, basically. The wind was just non-stop. I mean, where we were, the track was basically a wind tunnel too. So you're getting pelted with snow trying to run and I hate distance events because they're long. So you're on the track longer, you're warm, but you're just constantly being pelted and you're like why god?
Speaker 1:I can. I can understand. I can understand that I will throw an honorable mention out there for anybody who's ever ran. They're listening to the slippery rock university. I don't care if it was the middle of July. That stadium is barbarically cold and windy and coach Upton will back me up on that. No matter when it is, that stadium is so, so cold and it's nothing, nothing like waiting at from 10 AM after you throw your javelin, till 6 PM the run, the 200 in the 23rd heat of the 200 in the cold. It's nothing like that. So, um, next one. I'm just gonna ask Jose and coach Upton this, because they've, um, you know they, they've coached, you know college track and I just want to kind of get their opinion. You know, where do you guys guys think is that one stadium and Jose, we'll start with you or track arena that your athletes somehow performed like way better than really any other? Any other place Does anywhere stand out to you for that? Drake?
Speaker 2:you know, I mean, when you go to Drake you just level up, you know, and it's just how it is. I was fortunate enough to run and coach at Drake and it's a different beast, you know, just being there. I mean, when I was there as a meager freshman they threw me in the 4x2, which I wasn't a sprinter and we were in the university class and I had to run the final leg against Michael Johnson, who was at Baylor at the time. And then you fast forward to my junior year to where I placed third in the open triple jump and I was the only division two athlete to do that. So that was special. But as a coach, my 25 footer went there and he in the university of any any place. I think it was fifth and um, you still feel the same and it's just a great atmosphere to go to. I mean, I know they have a football field there but you know nobody cares about drake football. So it's just a great atmosphere okay, coach upton, what about you?
Speaker 1:you know your many travels. What's that? One stadium that you seem like the athletes always did better than the rest?
Speaker 6:I guess, when I look at it, probably one of the coolest places. Talk about instant atmosphere, instant energy. I'd have to go with an indoor facility and and I go up to the armory in new york. Um, you know just, you know just the whole thing being in new york city. You know, maybe you're taking a subway over to the, to the facility, um, you just walk in and just the history of you know much. You know, like coach was talking about, right terry, you know, when you're talking to drake relays and stuff like that, I mean you're just talking about a lot of the history at those venues. Um, and you know, I always thought the armory in New York was a very cool place to be at. Um, the kids always seem to love it and do well there.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay. So this next one is just going to be for Marsco and Colin here, and then we're going to have everybody else round out this other question here. So we're going to start with you, marsco, on this. Do you watch the Olympics when track is on?
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's probably the most I watch Olympics, to be honest.
Speaker 1:Okay, how about you, colin?
Speaker 7:okay, how about you, colin?
Speaker 1:uh, no, I'd say normally I, I do not, I'm more of a winter olympics guy, I get really into the winter, so, okay, all right, the next one we're gonna have. Uh, austin and fry um, lauren and and byron, answer this one. All right, give it to us straight. Ice baths. We're gonna start with you. Lauren, what's your take on the ice bath? Did you love them, did you hate them, or was it somewhere in between?
Speaker 3:I actually love them because my body doesn't like to recover, so I'd have to force myself into recovery mode, and I actually still do ice baths voluntarily now as a 31-year-old woman. So, yeah, I'm actually for it, and I also like doing contrast. I so yeah, I'm actually for it, and I also like doing contrast. I don't know if any of the other athletes and people in here would do contrast from hot to cold, hot to cold and finish up with cold. That one's a good one too.
Speaker 1:Okay, how about you, byron? Did you love them? Coach Upton, ice baths.
Speaker 5:I did. It was something I kind of started in high school anyways. So I was able to kind of continue that in college and it was just part of my pre-meet ritual, just to get my mind right. So I had my playlist going. I would hop in after. I would get a couple starts and sit in there for about 10, 12 minutes and, just like Lauren, I still do ice baths to this day. I got my cold tub outside and then um hopping in, and I do have a sauna as well.
Speaker 1:So I'm with lauren with the hot and cold contrast must be you, uh, you young people stuff, to do all that still, because I ain't getting in the ice bath anymore, so fry, what about you? What?
Speaker 2:was, what was the?
Speaker 1:ice baths like at bethany for you. I loved them. I mean that was just like byron said. I mean that was the focus fors, like at bethany for you I loved them.
Speaker 8:I mean, that was just like byron said. I mean, that was the focus for me. Um, I always used to do it two days before, like we really got into it. Um, I was just weird, like that was real superstitious, so I was like I need to do it at least two days before the day before. I never felt good the next day, I don't know why. Um, and then, if I didn't have access to an ice bath, I would do contrasting showers as well hot to cold, hot to cold. Um, but preferably I prefer the ice bath because the when I don't know like the cold water sitting under there for like a minute sucks. I just don't know why. But, um, but yeah, I love the ice bath okay, how about you austin?
Speaker 9:I did them a lot when I was younger. I don't as much. I hate the cold, but also I mean there's a lot of you know going on right now, theories on should you ice bath, should you not? Is the inflammation good for you know, the stimulus?
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, so I will. I will say I did like him back in the day because way back in the day, way, way since I'm like the third oldest person on this um, coach upton used to make us do them and when I didn't like him as like a freshman, he told me well, rocky did him. So I just got in there and put a bunch of ice in and I would think about, I was like Rocky Balboa and I'm like, if Rocky can do this, anybody can do this. So that's what, uh, what coach Upton told me. But also, um, the other reason I would do them is, way back then we were doing spring ball and football simultaneously, with no days off, so I really needed those ice baths on Friday, so it was really the day before the meet, out always doing. But coach Upton told me, if Rocky could do them, I would do them. And Rocky really never did a nice bath, but as a naive 20 year old I you know I did it. So there we go.
Speaker 1:One of the last questions I want to, I want to ask everyone is levels of championship. Now, we kind of talked about it a little bit here, but just kind of kind of reiterate it, um, and definitely brag about yourself here a little bit. So, um, what is like the highest level of championship that you want? Did you ever win a team championship, an individual championship, national championship? Um, this is a chance for you to kind of brag about yourself a little bit. So, uh, jose, take it away.
Speaker 2:Goodness, um, high school state champions. I was a seven time gold medal champion as an individual. We took state two years Um, when I was in high school college. Um, I was a I think it was a five time all American Um. I was a multi-year conference champion and we took um conference, uh, my junior year indoor and my senior year outdoor and you know, I nationals I got third um, that's probably about the the highest.
Speaker 2:But a lot of I, I honestly I mean, and not being you know that guy but won a lot of, won a lot of medals, won a lot of meets, broke a lot of records and, quite honestly, I, I honestly don't remember them too much.
Speaker 2:I, you know, I, I, I remember I went to Sioux city, iowa, and I broke their long and triple jump records as a junior in high school. And then I went to University of South Dakota, which is like 30 miles up the road, and there was supposed to be this kid that was going to break one of my records and I didn't even know I had the record at the time and so he came down there and didn't do it. But then I went there and I broke their college record in the triple jump. So I mean it just was a. It was a good career and a lot of records and things broken. So, honestly, the team champions were were the best high school college you know, but a lot of individual records that my medals are in a shoe box somewhere, all American papers are somewhere. It's just like I said it was a lot of it was a lot and not that they weren't important.
Speaker 2:It's just, like I said, it was a lot of it was a lot, and not that they weren't important. It's just I'm, I'm. I'm very much a minimalist and live in the present, and you're talking about something that was over 30 years ago.
Speaker 1:So no, I understand. I just wanted to have you brag by yourself a little bit there. Do you have a question, though? When you qualified for the Olympic trials in a long jump, what did?
Speaker 2:you have to jump. I actually qualified in the triple jump.
Speaker 1:Oh, the triple jump. What did you actually have to triple to qualify?
Speaker 2:51-11. Okay, and that was back in 1992 and I was on a provision B and it was not a great thing back then because when you qualified they took you to the University of Indianapolis in Indiana and there's nobody there because you're in prelims. They take one of those little electrical flags and they put it in the sand at 50, I think it was 53 and a half feet and you get three shots and they don't even measure it if you don't get close and then they wrap your bus ticket in your sandwich and say thank you. Okay, it's so impersonal, I mean because it's not like it was. It is today when you qualify, I mean you're at Oregon and it's a big deal.
Speaker 2:Back then, you know, I mean that's long before social media and huddle and youtube and all the rest of that stuff, and it was very impersonal. Not that I didn't enjoy it, um, but it it wasn't like I wish it would. I wish I'd have done that now with social media and everything, because now you know you blow it up, but you know that's that's why it's. It's very humbling when you just see the flag out there, sure, okay, well, thanks for sharing that.
Speaker 1:So, lauren, you mentioned it. You know state champion, national champion, national qualifier.
Speaker 3:Here's your chance to reiterate it all again and brag about yourself a little bit um, it's kind of weird because, like, I also feel like that's a whole nother time in my life that I feel like it didn't really happen. But obviously we did it and we're on this call for a reason. Um, but yeah, just kind of backtracking, like you know, I was a state champion, I was a um state individual champion in the high jump, state individual champion in the discus, um, and then I was a national champion in the heist in, champion in the javelin throw.
Speaker 1:I just think we lost Lauren there, so we'll go back to her. Marsco, you kind of mentioned it, though. What championships did you guys win as an athlete or a coach?
Speaker 4:I was in a unique spot because I was good enough to advance and be top two in the events that I was in, but I didn't score the big points. I scored the one, two, three points, but when you get to those bigger meets, that ends up being the difference. So I always feel like I played my role, just wasn't on as uh significant a level, but uh, you know, it was very important. In my high school we uh I was part of the 10th, 11th and 12th straight conference title. Um we were uh four in a row uh county uh champions while I was in high school, um two district titles and then then came in second in regionals junior year. So a lot of team success. It was really cool. I feel like I rode the coattails of a lot of more premier athletes, but it's cool.
Speaker 1:Okay, Chris, just out of curiosity. What was your best? Do you remember your best discus throw.
Speaker 4:I want to say it was only like 145, 147. It wasn't anything. I looked like a T-Rex or an alligator. If I didn't have my form and my speed, I'd be toast.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay. So, Lauren, sorry we lost you there, but you got to the javelin. You want to finish up from there for us?
Speaker 3:Yeah, sorry I had technical difficulties but yeah, I was All-American in the Javelin in college, made it to NCAAs my first year broke school records but I was training. Actually after I got done with my collegiate eligibility, I was training for the Olympic trials and worlds and I actually was able to re-break my personal record but roundabout national and state champion in the high school, also won a state championship with our team, which that was a really cool experience. They always backtrack our high school team that year as the dream team which they still talk about it to this day. So I was a part of the dream team. But yeah, just a little bit of everything Discus, javelin, high jump, some national championships, some state championships and also some all-American status.
Speaker 1:Awesome, awesome. And I will say one thing, and I think Colin will remember this, to back me up on this I, uh, I think we had a lot of great accomplishments as a throwing group when I was coaching colin multiple county champions, multiple um people that went on to to districts and regionals and things of that nature, um, every single year. But there was always one team that was right across the border and that was the hickory hornets uh, where lauren went, they gave us a run for our money in, uh, in throwing, especially in indoors, at uh, ysu and colin. I'm sure you remember that because it was always like why are they so good, why are they so better than us?
Speaker 7:constantly, and we are good always, always better and never could quite understand we were the dream team.
Speaker 3:What can I say?
Speaker 1:So always gave us some problems. But, Byron, what about the championships or? You know, individuals or anything like that for you?
Speaker 5:You know I mean when I was in high school I didn't have too many individual champions. My senior year I was able to break our 100-meter record. I was a county first place winner and then I placed at the Whip You'll Meet, qualified for states, just missed the state finals in the 100-meter. Went to Bethany. Freshman year was fortunate to be a part of our indoor conference championship team. My four years for indoor I placed in the 60 in the 200 um. Outdoor didn't have the best of luck. I got bit by the injury bug a lot. So outside of that um, you know, biggest accomplishment was being part of that indoor conference championship team.
Speaker 1:My freshman year okay, now coach up. I know you had a lot of, a lot of championships, a lot of great things over time and you know, in all seriousness, if people don't know, coach upton's um I believe the longest tenured, uh, track coach in pac history. Uh, for consecutive years as a, as a head coach, um, you know, I believe I'll let you brag about yourself, but 10 conference MVPs, multiple champions, multiple national championship qualifiers but it's kind of just throwing that out there and let you brag about yourself here.
Speaker 6:Well, it's kind of hard to follow. You know a couple other people in here. We have a couple tremendous athletes on this. You know, on this call, for sure Very impressed by hearing all of that. You know, I mean I got to go with Byron. You know the team championship. It's an awesome, awesome feeling, you know, to put that work in with a bunch of you know a bunch of people from a lot of different areas, different events, and you know so, winning those team championships at Bethany was, um, that that was an awesome, awesome feeling. Um, I did have.
Speaker 6:I did have one athlete one time where I mean I had a few kids who went to the national championships that uh four was my magic number. I, you know I, uh four was my magic number. You know I think fourth was the highest. You know that I've had an athlete finish, but I did have a triple jumper. Now you know we're talking a triple jump. Um, the irony of it, I had a triple jump jumper enter the national championships, ranked number one in the country at wisconsin lacrosse.
Speaker 6:Um, he was around a 51 foot jumper himself and uh things just didn't go our way that that day at lacrosse and, uh, he ended up finishing, I think, uh, 10th. I think he just missed finals, but that was the closest I got to sniffing a national championship as a coach.
Speaker 7:Okay, colin, how about you? Yeah, so, johnny, you might remember some of this better than me, but I know I had a couple, won a couple of invitationals runner-up at the county meet. I think back then we missed district qualifier by a couple feet. So not really too much to to mention there, but, um, being able to to have that record, uh, high school record for for a couple years, that that was a major accomplishment and uh definitely could say I had a lot of fun during during all of it.
Speaker 1:so yeah, so I believe you won two um invitationals your senior year, pie valley and grand valley. Uh, with the discus you set the grand valley meet record. In the discus you were a one-time county runner-up, one-time county champion, and you took fifth at districts and miss regionals by one spot, um, because the guy behind you beat you on that. So, um, fry, what about you? What is, uh, what are those championships um, that you know aaron fry was a part of um, that I got mentioned previously.
Speaker 8:Like my favorite memories were the back-to-back championships indoor. The first year, which I think was Byron's freshman year, we just dominated the meet. I think we won the meet by like 80 points or something like that, and so we kind of I don't know, you know, it was just cool to just give coach Upton the little water bath with the water bottles and go ahead and, and you know, the one of the best parts about that is like, you know, it's a, it's a fun bus ride home and a lot of the things that you can remember. But the second year was just much tougher. So the first year I just got to add this in so I think we entered like eight high jumpers and I think seven of us placed. So we pretty much swept a lot of the points in one event which I think ended up propelling us in the direction we needed to go, ended up propelling us in the direction we needed to go. So it was almost like a little loophole. And then the second year you kind of seen a lot more teams kind of model that they wanted to kind of sweep and enter a lot of kids in some events where they felt like they could have stole some points.
Speaker 8:But that meet actually came down to the relay race and, like Byron said, we had a bunch of dogs, um, in that race and it happened to be the our 400 meter record holder, um, who brought it home for us. And right then and there we needed that he crossed the finish line and you know, it was just another one of those good moments where we got to take pictures at the podium. You know, I have a back to back chant give coach Upton a little water bath and coach Gwynn and then, you know, try to get into the indoor season. And I think we placed second that year. I think we were runner ups at our home field year, I think we were runner-ups at our home field. Outdoor is much different than indoor, but those two championships, right, there were definitely the best memories that we had. For my individual success in those meets. I placed third in both of those meets. I just felt like I felt so good just being a contributor and being able to put some points on the board for the team.
Speaker 9:Okay, thanks for sharing that. How about, about you, austin, round us out on this? Um, no, no, real like national contentions for me. Um, I was played with injury a lot and even if I wasn't I mean division three distance runners are some beast runners. I mean even our region, like for cross country. We're like, okay, we've got washu, we've got at the time every wisconsin school, and you're like we're not making it out, but kind of like we're just gonna do our best in pr, hopefully. So that's how okay goes.
Speaker 1:Okay. Well, thanks for sharing that and thank you all of you for coming on and doing the All Things Track episode. But before we go, before we go, everybody that's been on the show has been a part of the Fast Fitty Five. Now you're a part of Fitty's Great Eight and each one of you is going to get a question and you are going to just give an answer. So we got 8 questions from all over the map. I already wrote them out for everybody and here we go, if everybody's ready, alright, marsco, who wins in a fight? 50 Emperor Penguins or me, you and Drew, me and Drew 50 Emperor Penguins I don't. And Drew Me, you and Drew For 50 Emperor Penguins? I don't know. That's a lot of four-foot penguins coming at us.
Speaker 4:You're under eight and Drew, I think he could do some damage.
Speaker 1:Okay, coach Upton 3, am you going to the Waffle House or Denny's?
Speaker 6:Waffle House.
Speaker 1:Colin. Okay, Colin, so most of our guests and listeners may never get a chance to experience this, but what's the biggest dive bar you've ever been in? George's. Shout out Georgia City Lights right there. All right, Lauren. What's the most overrated physical characteristic people fall for? On someone?
Speaker 3:Overrated character. This is a very broad question. I would say. Probably if they're rich, they think that they're rich and they have all the answers to everything and it's not the answer to pretty much good people.
Speaker 1:So I would say that Okay, jose, ketchup or mustard, what is better, it doesn't matter what it's on. Ketchup, really Alright Fry. What's the wildest or funniest or most memorable road trip you've ever been on?
Speaker 8:Coach, coach, coach up to go like this one. This is actually is very true too. So we had ECAC meet going up to Massachusetts and I drank so much water I think we stopped every 15 minutes. He was like you, alright, man, I'm like I'm good, I'm good, I'm just trying to stay hydrated.
Speaker 1:Apparently, you were over hydrated for that one. Yeah, I was.
Speaker 8:It was nerves too, man that's funny, byron, for you.
Speaker 1:Yoga overrated or underrated?
Speaker 5:overrated.
Speaker 1:Byron might catch some heat on that one. Alright, and Austin, you're rounding us out on this one word to describe a. Well is well, you rounding us out on this.
Speaker 1:One word to describe a whale is well well, well, okay, so, uh, this is a little bit of fun there on the you know 50s grade, eight questions around out the show. But thank you to all of the guests. Thank you, Uh, coach, Upton, Jose, Colin Byron, Austin, Chris, Aaron and Lauren for coming on this week's episode of the Ride Home Rants talking all things track and field, reliving some of our glory days and sharing some of our insight about track for all of you listeners out there, as you gear up for track season and you are seeing the students out in the community, whether it's high school, college, middle school, whatever it is, make sure you support them. It means a lot when people come to the meets and, you know, see them. And I know it meant a lot to us when people would come see us at those meets. So, as always, if you'd like to show, be a friend and tell a friend, and if you didn't like it, tell them anyways, because I bet they like it just because you didn't. This is Fitty signing off and we
