Melanie Schwarzbach, H.S. Track Coach
Melanie Schwarzbach loves running herself. While she was in high school and during her freshman year at Concordia, she ran the sprints and hurdles. It wasn't until she was an adult that she embraced distance running.
Melanie has coached track for 20 years and is the track coach again this year. She is excited because the team is almost doubled in size. This year twenty students are now practicing track in the gym and they will wait until the roads are cleared before they go outside. "We have the four treadmills, and the machines in the exercise areas. So, we are going to do a lot of general strength and conditioning training. But all of the schools in the area are in the same boat!" She worries about the safety of the students running on the roads, but with the quality of the fields in question for some time to come, they will run outside on the roads as soon as it is safe. She's not sure what kind of track season they'll have.
However, as much as she likes to win, she understands that some of the kids going out for track are going out for different reasons besides winning at a track event. Some are getting ready for swimming season, others, are already thinking about football. What she dreams for each one is that they would strive to compete against themselves, trying to improve their time or their distance. "I have a handful of kids that are out because they are looking to be better football players. So, my philosophy with all the kids is that they will become better all-around athletes. They need to work to improve themselves and while we love winning, my goal for every kid is for them to beat one person, every meet, and that is themselves from the week before. I have athletes that may never place in a meet, but if they can become faster, stronger, better with more confidence in what they do. And then winning is icing on the cake."
