Drops of sweat fall from his head, his legs ache, and his heart pumps faster than it ever has before as he practices a  400-meter race. He bursts off the line, handing the baton off to the next leg, who just happens to be another teammate he had on the football team. Junior Darius Baugh completes his first practice and reminds himself to push hard every day for a season six months from now.

“I want to become a more explosive athlete for my senior year of football,” Baugh said.

The men’s track team has seen a sudden increase of sprinters this spring. As a result of recruiting and encouragement of their coaches, the track team has seen an increase in football players to better the team’s speed.

Varsity track and field head coach Robert Torres believes that the new football players will make an immediate impact on the team. “We definitely went from a decent team to a really good team almost instantly. They filled lots of holes that we had,” Torres said.

According to Torres, the new runners are expected to participate in several events, including sprinting, hurdles, and shot put.

The players came together, one by one, to run track as a means to train and create better chemistry. “My friends influenced me because if they do it, I’ll be more comfortable running,” Baugh said. “I feel like we can all get better together as a [football] team, so it carries over into the season.”

Varsity football head coach Keith Rawlings believes that football players running track is beneficial to both teams. “I think it’s great. They all need to be fast. That’s what colleges, want so track sure helps.”

For this track season, junior wide receiver Avery Jones notices a considerable difference in practices compared to his previous school, Harford Tech. “They take practice more seriously here than Harford Tech. I can tell I will definitely benefit more from track than at my other school,” Jones said.

Though football players have run track in the past, this year, the number of players has increased to 13. “I didn’t see the need to do track last year. I honestly don’t know, I didn’t see why I would,” Baugh said.

“I’m trying to train for football, but also to contribute to the team and trying to get better and faster at the same time,” Baugh said.

Grant Sharretts is a Sports Editor and Kishan Patel is the Online Editor in Chief for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.