Ole Miss track closure effects team's season preparation

Ole Miss athletes face adversity following the track's recent closure. Spirits remain high.

On April 1^st it was brought to the attention of the Ole Miss athletic program that the track and field complex might be unsafe. Reported cavities under the surface of the track have prompted the facility’s immediate closure until experts can further identify and correct the issue.

This means a few things for the Ole Miss Rebels track and field team. The first of which is the cancellation of the home meet scheduled for next week. This is the 2^nd meet cancelled due to the condition of the track. Apart from competition, Ole Miss athletes have been moving their practices to Oxford high school.

Cones surrounding track ward off would-be runners

Moving the home meet on the 26^th to Memphis is a possibility; this will give the athletes a chance to have another week of competition under their belt before the LSU invitational in May.

Moving practices to Oxford high school during repairs, however, proves to be a more strenuous fix. The hours that Oxford High’s track is available are far less flexible so that means different practice hours and in many cases, carpooling.

Ole Miss track athlete Scarlett Fox claims another alternative, running.

 “ We just incorporate it into our workout,” Fox said. “ It’s two and a half miles between campus and Oxford High’s track, so we just make that our warmup and cool down runs.”

Fox looks at the positive side and believes that adversity only makes the team stronger. The focus of the team will remain on hard work and team bonding now more than ever.

“Sure it’s a headache,” Fox said. “But we all just push each other that much harder so that we can perform well regardless of the circumstances.”

Hunter Harrison, a discus and javelin thrower for Ole Miss, said that he has faith in the athletic department to fix the issue, and his only focus is on school and training.

“ The school will take care of this problem right away,” Harrison said. “ I’m just going to focus on throwing and finals, the rest is out of my hands.”

There is currently no set timeline on the renovations for the track, but the season is still in full swing. The Rebels team will split this weekend. Some will go to the War Eagle Invitational at Auburn, and others will go out to Walnut, California to compete in the highly competitive Mt. Sac Relays.