Go to a junior high track meet and the first thing one notices is the roaming herd of athletes, distinctive only by the marks of their school’s name and colors on their uniforms.

A track and field event is massive and an athlete cannot move without running into a teammate.

Yet, track is one of the most individual sports in which a junior high sports animal can participate. Therein lies the paradox of track.

Teammates everywhere, but you are a lone wolf when the starter’s pistol fires.

“It’s based on your decisions,” Southwest freshman Kirk Resseguie said of success on the track.

“No one is making you or telling you what to do,” he said. “No one’s telling you to run as hard as you can in that certain heat.”

South seventh-grade runner Kara Easum agreed

“You’re doing it on your own, and you don’t really have to count on other people,” Easum said. “In track you’re by yourself trying to compete with other people.”

“It’s all up to you, really, if you want to make it worth your while,” Resseguie added.

Track is the ultimate junior high individual sport – “unless you’re running relays,” Easum pointed out.

So why track?

“I thought I’d be good at it from football and basketball,” Resseguie said. “I just wanted to give it a try.”

No particular reason for Easum either.

“I just like to run and compete,” she said.

So running and/or enjoying the idea of running is definitely a prerequisite for anybody fending for themselves in the world of junior high track.

“Track is a lot of running,” Resseguie said, “and I know a lot of people who don’t like to run for fun.”

But other than that, there was not really any common characteristic to identify a track athlete.

“There are a lot of different personalities, a lot of different types of people,” Easum said. “It’s not like one type of person (participates).”

Those who do run and find success gain a real sense of pride in the process.

“Doing a really good time in track or winning an event, it feels just as good as anything else,” said Resseguie, who also plays basketball and football.

Nevertheless, track is not exactly at the top of the junior high sports food chain. It has to compete with more popular sports.

Resseguie thinks many potential running mates decide to stay in the territory where they feel at home.

“A lot of people don’t start track until their junior high years because that’s when they get introduced to it,” he said.

Easum thought track’s mainstream popularity, or lack thereof, plays a role in the sports numbers at the junior high level.

“A lot of people do it, but it’s not popular,” she said. “You don’t see it a lot on TV. When younger kids see it, they don’t know about it as much as they do basketball or football:That attracts them to more popular sports.”

Those who are attracted to track, however, stick together. “We support each other because it helps you mentally,” Easum said. “We cheer on our teammates.”

Pack mentality.

Maybe track is not survival of the fittest, after all.