Overview

The bell at five signals the end of a day’s work for most students on campus, but in the weeks preceding BOSM, it marks the beginning of a gruelling training session for the Boys Athletics Team at BITS which lasts as long as light holds.

Athletics events during BOSM run the gamut of track and field events with long jump, discus, javelin, high jump, and races of various distances from a 100 to 5000 metres. It is little surprise that the large variety of disciplines involve vastly different training regimens. In fact, the nature of the workout varies not only from the event but also on individual requirements, with its intensity dependent upon personal fitness standards. While most events are individual in nature, team spirit and morale remains strong. Improved facilities at GymG have greatly helped as well as the team was no longer forced to jog outside campus to Birla High School to train. Training equipment though, is no more than ‘satisfactory’, the bare minimum an athletics team can expect.

Past Performance

Athletics has been a steady source of medals at BOSM with BITS dominating year after year. Despite stiff competition, primarily from IIT Delhi (aided by far superior resources), and to a lesser extent, DTU and the neighbouring BKBIET, the team has consistently managed to top the medal charts.

Their trip to IIT Delhi last semester, in what was largely an inter IIT competition, proved to be an eye opener, as the team struggled for podium finishes. Exposure to a higher level of competition will hold them in good stead going forward with the team confident of delivering in upcoming tournaments.

Recruitments

Recruitment posters are put up within the first week of the semester. The need to find new talent early stems from not just assimilating first years into the fold as soon as possible but also allowing senior members to start training earlier.

The increased intake of students by the Institute hasn’t improved the overall quality of recruits drastically. The team is upbeat about the future though, as there is immense potential, including a long distance medal prospect.

Captain’s Interview

Utkarsh Vashishtha, captain of the Men’s Athletics Team this semester has been a lifelong athlete. In his own words athletics is one of the few sports disciplines which rely heavily on innate ability, and his record as an athlete proves that he has truckloads of it. A naturally gifted sprinter, he’s been part of the short distance running circuit for as far back as he remembers. By the age of sixteen, he was part of State level meets before his running career was put on the backburner in favour of academics. The hiatus was short lived as he hit the ground running on campus, winning the 100m gold in BOSM as a first year and repeating the feat last year.

With no plans of taking up the sport professionally, he has thoroughly enjoyed the relatively stress free sporting environment on campus. While his time as an athlete has been smooth sailing so far, he described managing both his own fitness along with duties as captain as ‘hectic’. With professional coaches playing only an auxiliary part in the team’s preparation, everything from scheduling practices to training regimens for individual players has to be handled by the senior members of the team. If all of these responsibilities left him fatigued, he did a great job of not displaying any of it as he concluded the interview by exhorting non-participating students to attend sporting events throughout BOSM.