Track athletes Sadie Nay of Trinity Lutheran and Frank Rohr of Brownstown Central enjoy being members of their respective track and field teams for the same reason.

They said they like being around their friends.

Rohr runs the 800 and 1600 for the Braves, while Nay runs the 400-meter dash and 1600 relay and competes in the long jump.

“I like the mile better. I like it because it’s longer. I like to run in hot weather,” Rohr said.

Braves coach Derrick Koch said, “Frank has been getting more competitive, so that’s good.”

Rohr said the second and third laps are the hardest in the mile. He said he likes to save his energy so he can finish strong.

“He gets a lot of energy coming down (the straightaway). Everybody is cheering for him,” Koch said.

Rohr said he works hard in practice.

“Some of our practices are on the track. Some of them are on the road. When we’re at the track, I run eight or 10 laps. We run them all at one time,” he said. “I like running over to the middle school and out to the fairgrounds.”

Koch said at road meets, Rohr doesn’t know any strangers.

“He likes to make a lot of new friends. He’s not shy. He’ll get out there and make some new friends,” Koch said.

“Frank will go with us on the road when we run to the fairgrounds or something like that. It’s fairly safe and he’ll run with us. He does a good job with that. He keeps up with the team and does hard work during that time,” Koch said. “When we have a whole workout as team, he likes to do the whole workout, so that’s a good thing about Frank. He loves to work and go at it. He ran a four-mile run this year.”

Koch said Rohr’s teammates enjoy having him on the team.

“He’s a hard worker and has a good work ethic. He always wants to complete the workout, no matter what it is,” Koch said. “I know he’s going to work hard and do his best. It has been enjoyable because of that.”

Rohr ran track and cross-country in middle school, and he was a basketball manager for the same reasons as being on the track team.

“I enjoyed being with my friends. I just like having fun,” he said.

As for Nay, she said her best time in the 400 was the 1:11 she ran last week at Indianapolis Lutheran.

“My goal was to get below 1:12, and I beat that. I’m going to try to keep lowering my time,” she said. “I definitely feel I can do it. The most important thing is getting a fast start.”

Nay has been using blocks more frequently in the latter half of the season because it helps her get off to a better start. She also prefers running in lanes three or four for the 400.

In running the 1600 relay, Nay said, “I actually like the middle (running second or third) because it takes off some of the pressure, and the pace has already been established. At that point, you just need to maintain the pace that everybody else is running.”

The handoffs are very important, she said.

“We started off a little rough in the season, but we’ve gotten a lot better,” she said.

Nay ran the 400 her freshman year, but she hurt her ankle and was out most of the season.

“It’s my senior year, and I wanted to make the most of it and be involved more,” Nay said. “We have a bigger team this year, and it definitely seems like more of a team sport, and it’s more enjoyable with a bigger team. I definitely enjoy competing with the other girls. I hope I can be a good role model to them.”

Practice is important, too, she said.

“I’ve definitely improved a lot since the beginning of the season because I wasn’t in the best physical shape at the beginning of the season,” Nay said.

This is her first year doing the long jump.

“I like it because it’s just a fun event,” she said. “Having your steps right is the most important part. We don’t have a long jump pit at Trinity, so the only time we get to practice is at away meets.”

Nay ran cross-country her freshman and sophomore years and qualified for the regional her freshman season. She said the reason she did not run cross-country her junior year was to help coach her brother at Immanuel Lutheran School.