The Loyola track team starts up its season soon with a new look. This year, the team will not only be comprised of runners, but will include a hurdler and a shot putter. According to head coach Paul Garvey, the addition of other events has been a consideration for the team for some time.”There was new interest this year from new athletes, but to an extent, the interest has always been there,” Garvey said.Track was one of the last sports to start up after Loyola reinstated the athletics program. Garvey said that it developed as a training tool for cross country runners. “Distance runners need to run year round. Otherwise they can’t be successful.”He adds that in the past the track team was strictly for cross country distance runners to continue their training for the coming season.While there may have been some interest from athletes, Garvey says that he feels safe saying that there was no serious effort to put other than distance runners on the track team. He said there just weren’t the resources.Adding new events means taking on the cost of equipment and facilities. “We’re still a far cry away from a full-blown track team the likes of LSU or Tulane … but we’re taking small steps that hopefully will lead to bigger steps in the future …. We have to piece it together,” Garvey said.The members of this year’s squad are Anand Viswanathan, chemistry senior, Kenny McConnel, finance sophomore, Cephas Archie, vocal performance sophomore, Mike Gulotta, history sophomore, Joe Kutner, computer information systems and music junior, Charlie French, music senior, Jean Cassandra, general studies freshman, Catherine Bagget, general studies junior, Beth Robinson, French junior, and Natalie Sargent, general studies freshman.Archie will be competing in the 110 meter hurdles, an event in which he was Louisiana state runner up two times in high school. McConnel will be competing in the shot put. The rest of the team is comprised of cross country runners who use the track season to continue their training.Viswanathan was All-Conference and All-Region in cross country this past year. He will concentrate on the 5,000 meters. “Personally, I am looking to break records…For the team, I want us to run well. If one of us runs well, we all run well; we feed off each other. I want us to gain respect within the athletic department and at Loyola,” Viswanathan said.Gulotta, French, Bagget, and Cassandra also received All-Conference or All-Region recognition in cross country.The team’s schedule is not set in stone, Garvey said. He is allowed more freedom to use what he calls “a floating schedule” to plan meets that are beneficial to the team.In order to qualify for nationals, the athletes must acquire a certain time, or in McConnel’s case, a certain distance, Garvey said. The team would like to compete more locally, but to do so means to face tougher competition.Loyola and Xavier are the only teams in the GCAC that field track teams. It is not a sport ordained by the conference. Locally, the teams to compete against are LSU and Tulane, NCAA Division I scholarship teams.While Garvey recognizes the advantages of competing against some teams, mainly that they push his athletes to step up, he says that it is demoralizing and taxing on the team to do so on a constant basis.”You have a Loyola student running against a Kenyan from Tulane who gets $10,000 a year to run. … He’s obviously very good; that’s why he has the scholarship. It pushes you to an extent, but really, we can’t compete against that,” Garvey said.That is why the team travels to compete against other NAIA teams and even NCAA Division III teams.”We can compete and do well against those teams,” Garvey said.Garvey said that Loyola has never qualified anyone to nationals in track, and that is a big goal for everyone on the team. “Our athletes work year round. That’s a big commitment for an athlete to make. They sacrifice a tremendous amount,” he said.