Zane Batterson 26’ is one of Berlin’s JV track athletes.

   Batterson runs the 1600 and 800 meter dash, but may try out for the 400 meter. The 1600 is one mile and would be approximately four laps around the whole track which is quite a lot, when asked what motivates him, he mentioned his teammates., 

   “What motivates me to keep running in a race is the thought of not letting the team down as me stopping or slowing down could lose us points,” Batterson said .

   In any of the dashes, one will be timed, and their place depends on the competitors’ time which means it is important for them to place well. Although track members don’t have specific workouts to do, they have to do the same stretches to loosen their muscles and gain focus before their run everyday.

    Batterson’s opinion was that, shoes do matter. Shoes specific for track and field have these spikes underneath of them that help people run faster on certain, uneven terrain, because of that extra grip, runners can push themselves forward more therefore the competitor will be able to run faster. 

    “Shoes definitely matter, the first time I wore spikes, I had a 15 second drop in my time. If you’re running on a track it’s best to wear spikes,” Batterson said.

   For him, his biggest weakness was his acceleration, but to help fix it, Batterson was with the sprinters to try and help speed it up. Batterson’s biggest strength would be his height advantage, because of Batterson’s long legs, he isn’t required to take as many steps while he runs, which can help him run out of breath a lot less quicker. 

   Although it takes a lot out of him, Batterson won’t let it affect his time with family. Friday is his free day for both him and his sister, so they both just spend time with their family.

    “Track also doesn’t affect family time because we always eat as a family and have movie nights on fridays when there is no sport for me and my sister,” Batterson said. 

   There’s a lot of key things for track, but one of the main things is motivation. Before a run, competitors can’t just run their race without it. They need some form of motivation or advice to push through,

    “The best advice I have ever gotten was in eighth grade when my coach told me I need to have my hips forward and should feel like you can’t stop this really helped a lot,” Batterson said. 

   Many athletes have traditions before their competition or meets, in Battersons case, his pre-meet tradition would be to eat a baked potato 3-4 hours before the start of the meet. Potatoes are a great source of iron, calcium, protein, vitamin C and potassium, research even shows that a potato has more potassium than a banana. 

      He also doesn’t let it take much out of his time to study and do homework, although it does help that he doesn’t have much to begin with. Along with track, Batterson has a wide array of different sports as well, he plays soccer for both Berlin and his club along with rock climbing which he just got into over the winter, as well as both archery, shooting and hunting. When he plays soccer when track season is over helps him stay in good shape and ready for the season of running to come around again. While he does all of that, Batterson also takes care of his bees and chickens, which he dedicates a lot of time too.