On April 2, the Potomac Falls High School (PFHS) boys varsity track team’s season begins. At each meet, freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors line up at the start line to begin their races. While that moment is soon approaching, there is still a lot of practicing to be done; however, distance coach Dolph Null thinks the practice will pay off.

 Null believers that there are a lot of freshmen and sophomores that show leadership potential. This includes sophomore Charlie Groscup.

 “There are a lot of good freshmen and sophomores that show a great deal of potential,” said Null. “We’re trying to make a change here. We’re trying to develop a program.” Null believes that sophomore Charlie Groscup has a lot of leadership potential.

 The male portion of track and field team has welcomed a lot of freshmen this season. Freshman and long distance runner Jake Jensen likes what he’s seen of track so far.

 “The guys are cool, Coach Null is a great coach,” said Jensen. He later said that he loves everything about track. Sophomore Ryan Paganelli, who competes in the 400-meter dash, also likes track because of the people who compete in it. Junior Jaylen Shird, who runs in the 200-meter dash, agrees.

 “[I love] just when you come off the curb and you’re on the straightaway, you just hear everybody cheering for you and it’s just self-explanatory,” said Shird, who has been running track for four years.

 The team, which is “somewhere in the middle of the pack” according to Null, will have its first meet on April 2. They will have two home meets this year and the rest are away meets that are within a 60 mile radius of Potomac Falls. Some of these meets may be far, but Shird thinks it’s worth it.

 “I think everybody should go to all the meets, if they can,” said Shird.

 When it comes to passion, this year’s track team has a lot of it. Null has been running since he was 12-years-old and has been coaching in Loudoun County since 1976. While he’s been using his bountiful personal experience to coach, he has also done a great deal of reading about coaching

 “I read tremendously, a lot, about training,” said Null.

 While some team members are doing track to keep in shape for a winter or fall sport and others are doing track as their main sport, all team members have one thing in common. They are all very excited for this season to begin. 

“I’m actually really excited, I like a lot of kids on the team,” said Shird.