After having to cut their season short last year due to COVID-19, boys track and field is back and making great improvements. As the weather starts to warm up they are just beginning the championship part of their season. 

Coach Jackson Litterer as well as the other coaches are glad to see their athletes back in competition and striving to get better. “We have been competing at a very high level and we have seen each member of the team improve throughout the year! Litterer announced. As they begin their championship part of their season, the coaches are even more proud of the students they coach. “I am so excited for our kids!”

Litterer began coaching track at CCA back in 2016 because of his passion to work with student athletes and his love for track and field. Sports can provide and teach leadership skills and morals that are important in the real world. Litterer wants his athletes to have fun and make memories like he did back when he was in track and field during his high school years. 

“I hope to help give all of the kids I get the chance to work with a great experience that they can look back fondly on!” Litterer emphasized. 

Senior athlete Brandon Barker began the sport back in middle school and is now almost done with his last season here at CCA. 

“It was a sport that I could work hard at and become good at without having to have any kind of special skills or coordination,” he stated. Although having to miss out on last year’s season, he is happy to be back at it just like many other athletes. 

There are many reasons why track and field is a sport numerous people have named as their favorite. Coach Litterer’s love for this sport not only comes from the external challenges, but the internal ones that try to convince you to quit. 

“Your main competition is the quitting voice inside your head! For me, personally, this sport taught me how to “tune-out” that voice, and that has made me a better husband, teacher, coach, and person,” Litterer voiced. “The sport really comes down to answering the question ‘how bad do you want it?’ and ‘pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone!’”. 

Coach Litterer found it hard picking only one favorite memory; however, he recalls watching athletes change how they view practice and putting effort into something being something that he very much enjoyed. 

“The stories of a kid that, on their own, flips-the-switch in their mindset and you see a change in how they view practice, he vocalized. “Success on a meet day doesn’t just happen; it is a result of the focus and intentionality that a student-athlete chooses to bring towards practice!”.

Some of the most memorable moments come from high school and they follow you around in the back of your mind. Going to state for track and field was one of Barker’s favorite memories. “It’s a really great experience getting to run with a bunch of really great runners from around the state. It’s also fun just getting to hang out with the team for a weekend.”

Your teammates around you make all the difference when in a sport. Barker replied, “I will miss the people the most. We have a really great team with a lot of great people that I will miss a lot. I hope to be able to come back and watch at least once though next year.”