Track and Field Competition returned back to the Indoor Track Nov. 14 but, this time “for fun” and with club sport teams.
The event was hosted by Campus Recreation and the St. Cloud State Running Club. Awesome prizes were donated from Chick-Fil-A Crossroads Center and Jimmy Johns in downtown St. Cloud. Two University Running Clubs, St. Cloud State University and University of Minnesota, went head to head in a dual track meet. The event had a great student turnout! Events offered included the 55m, 200m, 400m, 800m, Mile, and 4x400m relay.
The purpose was to get students active and engaged on the weekend and away from laptops. Students level of stress around this year can increase tremendously with factors like COVID-19, potentially returning home, or even finals approaching soon. The community track event offered a inclusive and welcoming environment. Thanks to Chick-Fil-A, every student was able to leave the event with a free Chick-Fil-A sandwich and overall winners received a $10 Jimmy Johns Gift Card. Students left the event with big smiles on their faces.
“As this is my first year as coordinator of Competitive Sports, I was excited to help guide one of my sport clubs to success on such a awesome event as well as one of the first club events we’ve hosted in our fieldhouse. Students trusted our logistics of the event; they felt safe and confident to be engaged on campus ” said Coordinator for Competitive Sports Delaydia Frink. “We were excited to see faculty/staff involved as well! Our very own Admissions Counselor, Jarreth “JJ” Martina, won the 55m dash race. Assistant Director of Student Involvement, Sami Bosacki, and I have been working so hard to create more of a presence for club sports on campus.”
The St. Cloud State Running Club is open to all casual and competitive runners. Many participate just to have a person for running motivation or train for something they want to get better at. The Running Club meets at 5:15 p.m. Monday-Thursday in the Campus Recreation Department. Due to the punches COVID-19 as thrown at active club sport teams, many club sport teams have cancelled competition and scrimmages. Lately, many club sport teams have become very resilient by finding creative ways to keep their members safe and active. Being that running isn’t a contact sport, it was easy to get create a safe event. Teams had designated rest areas, all participants were required to wear mask, put hand sanitizer on before and after racing, put hand sanitizer upon entering the building, and complete the health assessment.
If you’d like to support the Running Club, it is having a fundraiser from 5-9 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18 at Chipotle in downtown St.Cloud. Just tell the cashier that you are eating to support the SCSU Running Club.
