It could be Lisa Koll and the rest of the distance runners bent over, out of breath, lungs screaming for oxygen after a hard track workout.

Maybe it’s Rebecca Williams and Jenna Caffrey battling it out and working on their hurdling technique.

Or it could be coach Ron McEachran coaching his jumpers with technique improvement, performing jump after jump throughout practice.

If you’re at women’s track team practice, all these scenarios could be taking place.

Track practice is not simply stretching and running for a little bit, then hitting the showers and going home. In a season that runs from September to June, practices run the gamut of intensity levels and workouts variations in order to achieve the best results.

“Our sport is all about getting in better and better shape throughout the year. Depending on the events you’re in, we involve different things,” said head coach Dick Lee. “You try and point to certain times of the year where they are at their strongest, so that can be hard to keep that at a high level. Practices are crucial for us to get prepared for competition.”

Athletes need to be able to perform to the best of their ability at certain meets, while other meets are used as more of competitive rehearsals, and coaches plan workouts accordingly.

For a distance runner, there is never really an off-season. Most distance runners participate on the cross-country team, which requires a summer full of running and working out. This stresses the body and mind of the athlete, although workouts are varied to ensure the body does not burn out during the grueling season.

“For the distance runners, more aerobic conditioning and keeping that at a high level throughout the year [is most important],” Lee said. “Practices are crucial for us to get prepared for competition, but also keep in mind that we are training to compete.”

Although the distance runners’ season may never seem to stop, it is the same for any athlete on the team. For the sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers, there is more to the sport than being naturally fast and jumping high. The casual observer does not see the technique that goes into performing well, which is learned during practice.

“There is a big difference between college and high school, as far as technique goes,” said sprints and hurdles coach Scott Roberts. “There is a lot of technical adjustments that happen in the first two years as they train.”

When it comes to the jumping events, repetition and breaking bad habits are the goals of practice. In a sport like high jump or triple jump, technique is everything, so perfection in practice equals success in meets.

“All jumps, it’s all about repetition – to be able to do the same things over and over again. Part of what we do in practice with repetition is overcoming habits,” McEachran said. “It takes time to overcome habits, what should be a month or two could become a year or two, but what will happen is, and what we hope for, is that it’s not to the same degree and not as frequent. That’s what we are trying to do.”

Teaching technique is an important aspect of practice, but it is also in the long season to get a small competitive feel at practice. Having someone to compete against and to compare with is important for overall development and motivation. Something Roberts said he has the luxury of is letting Caffrey and Williams square off in practice.

“Sometimes, if it’s a real technical day, we will not pit kids against each other and work on the actual technique of the event,” Roberts said. “When we want them to focus on their speed elements, then we will put them against each other. Putting Rebecca and Jenna against each other in practice is like a competition environment in practice, so it’s a pretty high level for both of them.”