Morton Girls Track is off to a great start with a first-, a second- and a third-place wins in their first four meets.
Girl’s track has officially started, four inside meets have already happened.
02/14: Morton earned 3rd place
02/21: Morton earned 5th place
02/24: Morton earned 1st place
02/27: Morton earned 2nd place
Morton High School District 201’s track and field program competes under the name Berwyn‑Cicero (Morton) in the Illinois High School Association, representing a community that includes Cicero, Berwyn, Lyons, Stickney and parts of McCook. The girls team has a history of strong individual performances and continues to host its own Morton Distance Gala, a well‑attended meet that draws hundreds of competitors and highlights distance talent from across the region. Home meets are held at Carper Field, where the track was updated as part of district athletic facility improvements.
We talked to some coaches of track and field and Coach Martinez.
“I became a coach because of Morton. As a student I did track, cross country and soccer. I was also a PE leader. I love physical fitness. I was in the military and was the Physical Readiness Coordinator for my department. I was a personal trainer when I got out of the military. I love physical fitness and sharing it with others, and motivating athletes is difficult. You have to find their niche. Some like it when I am mean, others prefer positive reinforcement. The key is trying to get the athletes to motivate each other, which makes the biggest challenge as a coach motivating athletes,” said Coach Marines Martinez of shot put.
Also, we talked to Coach Bluster.
“I decided to become a coach when I was going through college to become a teacher. Being a teacher is the most important thing to me, but my whole life I have also loved sports and playing on teams. I figured that coaching could be a fun thing to be a part of since I am going into education anyway. One of the biggest challenges I face as a coach is balancing the teaching, coaching and personal aspects of my life. Coaching is like having another job on top of your main job and it takes up a lot of time throughout the school year, including many weekends. I have to always remind myself that finding a balance is healthy. When athletes are struggling, I try to bring things back to the basics and not overcomplicate things. While we want to work hard and have success, sports should always be about having fun and something we enjoy. If sports are getting stressful, I try to bring it back to the basics and help the athletes find success in the fundamentals. Once they’re feeling better, then we can get back to layering on more work,” said Daniel Buster, long-distance coach.
We also talked to Coach Ruiz.
“I decided to become a coach because I was on the track team here at Morton when I was in high school, so I wanted to come back since I loved the sport. The biggest challenge I face as a coach is helping girls during their hard times, moments where they don’t feel confident or are maybe injured, and figuring out how to continue training. The way I motivate those who are struggling is by sharing my own moments from when I was struggling and showing them how to change their mentality to one that is more positive,” said Daisy Ruiz, coach of long distance.
The coaches and team are excited about the current season.
