By Dani Tietz
dani@sjodaily.com
What does it take to move past hurdles that continue to knock you down?
For St. Joseph-Ogden’s Anna Tranel, it’s team.
“I had a different track career then most,” Tranel said. “My freshman and sophomore year I did not run for more than half the year due to an injury. My junior year, I was dealing with an injury and multiple other things that led me to the decision of being the track manager. I don’t have a huge highlight like going to state or being state champs.”
She was hoping that her highlight reel might include a healthy senior year where she could end her nine-year track and field experience doing something she has grown to enjoy, running middle distance races.
When the COVID-19 pandemic turned that vision inside out, Tranel began to have trouble with motivation. That is, until her team stepped in.
“A group chat with other teammates has motivated me to continue working hard and staying in shape,” she said. “Seeing other teammates running and working out helps me see that our team isn’t going to give up during this time.”
That team spirit, a loving nudge that keeps each Spartan moving forward, is something that Tranel knows is unique.
“I have always been a Spartan and I wouldn’t want to be a part of any other team,” she said. “I have watched other teams walk off their bus at a track meet and they don’t look like a team. I have watched other teams warm-up and they don’t look like a team.
“Our team has created a family that’s welcoming and doesn’t give up. We stay for the whole track meet in order to cheer our team on which is one of my favorite things about our track team. We make sure everyone is the best they can be.
“I love being able to have a family outside of my own and it allows me to make more friends and connect with so many people on a different level compared to during school hours.”
Head Coach Kelly Steffen has also provided a spark for Tranel.
“She isn’t just a coach or a teacher, she is someone you can talk to. She has always been so understanding and always wants the best for everyone. Coach Steffen was always understanding and always helped me work around what I was going through. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have decided to run track my senior year.”
Whether or not the Spartan seniors will step back on the track is still to be determined. St. Joseph-Ogden administration has left the door open to the possibility during the summer of 2020.
“Even though I may not ever run again, I want people to be able to see that even though we didn’t have school or practice we still didn’t give up and we continued to try our hardest,” she said.
It’s a lesson she learned during practice.
“We were running 100 yard repeats every 60 seconds,” she said. “We were told we would run 20 and maybe be pulled out if you were struggling. When we got to the 10th one, everyone wanted to quit, including myself, and I heard someone say ‘Why do we have to do this?’ I responded ‘We don’t have to, we get to.’
“We don’t have to go to practice everyday or run, we get to. I learned not to give up through that practice because it wasn’t something I had to do, it was something I got to do.”
Anna is planning to go to either Parkland College or Augustana University to study actuary science.
