LINDEN &8212; The 24 boys and girls who comprise the Linden High School track team will travel to Greensboro today for the first meet in the fledgling program&8217;s history. The meet will pit Linden against several larger schools.

The team boasts only one senior among the 13 boys and 11 girls who comprise the roster. Of those competitors, only four claim track as their only sport.

The male students that populate the roster all compete in either football, basketball or both while the females take part in cheerleading and basketball.

The second hurdle he had to cross was finding additional coaches. He seemed to clear that one with ease, procuring the services of Telena McIntosh and Sara Blackmon, both of whom have experience with coaching athletics in Linden. The experience coaching other sports seems to have helped them as much as playing other sports has served the athletes.

For the newly formed coaching staff, the next challenge required broadening their understanding of the sport.

Even Williams, who was part of a state championship track team during his high school days at Sweet Water, had to expand his knowledge of the sport to give his athletes a better chance of winning.

Armed with a new understanding, the crew set out to teach their athletes and began working on the execution of the events.

McIntosh and Blackmon are hopeful for positive results from the first-year team and relayed that this optimism is a result of the quality of athletes on the team, citing Tarrica Craig, Cherrell White and Megan Hinton as just a few examples.

Craig will anchor the 4×100 meter relay team while White and Hinton will compete in the shotput. White will also participate in the high jump.

Williams, who also coaches each of the male runners and field athletes in football, is excited about the young team&8217;s future and expressed the pride he takes in the team.

While the program will officially be off and running today, Williams aims to take it to new lengths in the future, hoping to add a middle school track program somewhere down the line.