ADM students are on Spring Break this week, but that doesn’t mean the competition stops for track athletes that are still in town.

Coach Mike Whisner is taking a group of lesser known underclassmen with him to the boys track meet at Iowa State today, and he explains what his younger group will experience as they compete in a forum they’re likely not used to.

“What they’ll experience when they get there is it is a ‘big-meet atmosphere’ and they’ve never experienced that as far as being a competitor at the high school (level).  Get the nerves out, establish where you’re at this time of year and then go from there and set your goals–where do you want to be in a week, in two weeks; where do you want to be in a month, where do you want be finish at the end of the season?  So it gives them the opportunity to compete besides just practicing, and I think it’ll just be a positive, something they can build off of once they’re done.”

With another meet on the horizon this Friday, Coach Whisner says he wants his underclassmen’s biggest takeaway this week to be that they have the confidence to compete at a high level against top competition.

Whisner says the ability to sift through nerves and develop confidence early on in their track careers will only help his underclassmen as they become the ‘stars’ in the years ahead.