Coming into the 2026 Boys Track & Field season, senior Omar Elsayed wanted to change some things up. “I’m a middle distance [runner], so I get the opportunity to be in a lot of different circles,” Elsayed explains. “Something I found in common with those circles is that they all wanted to improve the culture [of the team], so I saw the opportunity to bring together a group of mutual friends that all have a similar goal in mind.” Omar brought together a group of seniors to help lead the team together. The senior group consists of Omar, Jaxson Wanza, Jordan Futch and Will Henning.
Leading a team can seem like a big responsibility, especially track where there are so many athletes involved. “I guess you could say [being a leader] is a title, but I’ve been looking at it as more of a privilege,” Jaxson Wanza states. “We don’t have a very senior dominant group, so being a leader on the team this year is very important to me, being able to set the foundation for the next generation.”
“It means the world just being able to lead by example,” Elsayed adds. “I remember being a freshman and being new to the school, I was looking up to other senior leaders and trying to follow their footsteps. I am honored to fill that role.”
Omar also noticed that in the past years, track never really had a motto or a saying for the team. When thinking about the goals for leading this year, he came across a Japanese philosophy by the name of Kaizen.
Kaizen is a philosophy of constant and gradual improvement and seeing everyday as an opportunity to get one percent better. “Wanza and I were talking about this on the way back from a sprint practice,” Elsayed recalls. “It’s something that stood out to us because it brought together all of our goals for the season in one term.”
“We have really emphasized trusting in [Kaizen],” Wanza claims. “In track you’re not going to get results right away, you’re going to have to stack days. It’s more than just a philosophy of ‘working hard’ but finding ways to better yourself in any way possible.”
The indoor season just ended on March 28th, with the Hoosier State Relay Finals, and as the team moves further into the outdoor season, they are already seeing Kaizen being put into place. “I know what it was like to be a freshman and having a hard time trusting in the work. When we say trusting in Kaizen I feel like everyone has done a good job of not getting too much in their heads when they don’t see improvement right away,” Wanza Reflects. “Just watching a bunch of the younger kids, I have seen a tremendous amount of growth already.”
“Something that we said at the beginning of the year is that culture on the team doesn’t matter unless we carry it out,” Omar adds. “Something that we’ve been doing almost every meet to make sure we follow it, is mapping out our baby steps. We talk a lot about stacking our days and our small wins.
The Boys Track and Field team had their first outdoor meet on March 25th against North Central High school and started off with a big win. Follow along the rest of the outdoor season to see how they keep their culture high, stack days, and trust in Kaizen.
