In the offseason, Munster junior Adeyah Shine lived in the weight room.
Squats and dead lifts were her primary focus, with an emphasis on heavier weights. Once she got back to running, it didn’t take long to notice a difference.
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“I’d say two weeks, max,” she said. “I wanted to gain muscle and get my legs stronger, so I’d have more power in the 100 and 200.”
She displayed some of that newfound power at Friday’s Ed Woodrick Invitational at Munster, winning the 100 meters in 12.78 seconds.
Shine also placed third in the 200 in 27.62 and helped the 400 relay to a winning time of 51.75. Her performance came on a frigid, windy and rainy night, but Shine wasn’t going to let those conditions lower her standards.
“I can always improve,” she said. “I’m always trying to get better. I’m striving to get to state this year.”
Munster’s boys team also thrived in the sprint events, with junior Jaden Warner winning the 100 in 11.04, just ahead of senior AJ Zachary at 11.18. Zachary went on to win the 200 in 22.92.
Zachary couldn’t hide his true feelings after losing that close race in the 100 to Warner.
“I’ll admit it — I felt a little bit jealous,” Zachary said. “I thought I’d put in the work. But that just shows there are still some things I need to learn and grow on.
“When I ran the 200, I focused on that one assignment and was able to push through.”
But don’t expect that victory for Warner over Zachary to cause a rift in Munster’s locker room.
“It’s not like we’re enemies,” Zachary said. “Every day at practice, we push each other. We’re like brothers. Our whole track team is like a family. We have a good bond.”
Munster dominated both sides of its home meet, with the boys outscoring Hanover Central 193-157.33 fore the title. The girls won by a 253.5-114 advantage over Hanover Central.
But there was one area where the Wildcats owned the competition, and that was in the throwing events.
Senior Jacob Wienke won the shot put with a mark of 47 feet, 3 inches and the discus at 131-5. A similar sweep occurred in the girls meet, with senior Sarah Spangler winning the discus at 105-9 and the shot put at 34-2.
A regional qualifier in both events last season, Spangler has her sights set beyond that this spring. She credited offseason work with putting her in a better position to achieve those goals.
“I started working out more and eating better,” she said. “I became faster in discus and more powerful in shot put and that’s really helped me.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.