Track and field season doesn’t begin until December, but TCU Head Coach Darryl Anderson has already begun working with his team to ensure they are mentally and physically prepared for the season.

The athletes undergo a 12-week training program that covers everything from general conditioning to developing a work ethic in the classroom and on the track, Anderson said.

Training will culminate the first week in December, right before the team’s first competition at Texas A&M University on Dec. 10.

Anderson said the training program will be especially important this year because of the large number of first-year athletes the program has brought in.

“We’ve lost some high-profile seniors, but we’ve replaced them with some high-profile high school graduates,” he said. “Obviously, there’s going to be a learning curve and a growth curve.”

Anderson said bringing in new students is exciting from a coaching perspective because of this teaching curve.

When the team had more upper class students, the focus was more on maintenance, he said. Now, the concentration is on teaching new athletes work ethic and technique.

Overall, the team has seven scholarship seniors this season and has brought in 22 new members.
Anderson said the new recruits have the ability to become an integral part of the team right away.