By Jeff Harrison, WHS Trojan Tribune
He weighs in at 165 pounds and is 6 feet tall, who is he? Your very own athlete of the week, Anders Bowman (Grade 12).
Bowman has been running around for ages. He’s always been active. When Anders was in elementary and middle school, he tried all sorts of different sports. The three main sports he tried were soccer, basketball, and track. The one that was obviously his best was track. In sixth grade, there was a track meet where the athletes from Central, West, and East middle schools all compete for ribbons. Bowman was very successful at that meet winning the 800, which was the longest event offered. “That was my first track meet. It’s fun to know I was running against athletes that are now on my team such as Danny Gerber.”
That victorious meet helped persuade Bowman to go out for the cross country team in 7th grade. Bowman has been running cross country since 7th grade and has continued his winning streak. “This year’s cross country team was a lot of fun,” said Bowman. “We took first in state and went to nationals.” Bowman is also on the Nordic ski team. The team was also very successful this year partly due to Bowman’s contribution. Bowman took 11th in state and the Nordic ski team as a whole took third.
Now Bowman has his mind on having a great track season. Everyday after school Bowman reports to the gym to stretch with the rest of the team but then his workout plan veers to something different. “I just run,” said Bowman. “It’s a lot like the cross country team practices but a lot more repeats.” Repeats are a practice technique used to boost the runner’s endurance. Repeats are when you run a certain distance over and over again.
The season has begun and Bowman is already off to a great start. The first track meet was indoors at Bethel College, Bowman exploded right at the start of his mile race and ended up with a time of 4 minutes and 36 seconds. This set his new personal record destroying his old one by eight seconds. Bowman will continue to contribute to the boys’ track team as long as he stays healthy. Before every meet he eats half a Cliff Bar and takes a swig of Gatorade before his event. His diet and the right training is sure to keep him in shape. Bowman has only suffered from one running injury and that was during last years cross country season. His right knee was injured so he went to an Accelerated Recovery Program to have it checked out. “The doctors discovered there was a partial tear in my hamstring and it was causing me to run funky,” says Bowman. Luckily for our track team, the injury is fully healed.
Bowman promises a great track season ahead of us. “As long as we stay healthy and practice hard we’ll be fine.” When asked why he runs long distances Bowman responded with a short but to the point answer: “I don’t run to see who’s the fastest. I run to see who’s the toughest.”
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