Former Athlete Connor Buljalksi reflects and enlightens about the Track and Field program

Connor Bujalski
Photo Credit: Defiance College Athletic Department

With the Trank and Field squads opening up competition at the end of the month, I decided to interview a recent graduate from Defiance High School who ran for the team. This athlete is Connor Bujalski; he was on the team for four years and lettered all four years while he was on the team. 

So while talking to Connor, I had asked him about what Track meet was the most important one for the team to compete at this year. With a quick response, he replied, "it would have to be the Napoleon Invitation." He continued by saying, "this invitation is huge for the team with Napoleon being so close to the school. It is basically a big rivalry between them and us." As we continued, I asked him who are two athletes we should keep an eye on during the season; he replied with "Payton Switzer of the boys' team and Katlyn Parrish " he continued by saying, "Payton is a senior this year, so he is a leader for them this year, and I expect him to lead by example on the track and in the classroom. While Katlyn, on the other hand, isn't a senior, she will still have a big role on the team being a leader by showing her work effort during the year.

Our conversation then turned to how he thought the team would perform over the next few years with his class graduating and the new class of seniors taking over the team leader roles. He responded with, " the team will remain decent for the next few years, but he has fears that after his class graduated that the numbers on the team became very low." He continued by saying this could become a cause for concern because if the team wants to continue to compete at a high level, they need numbers to fill out the roster."

So, join me in wishing the track teams good luck at their first competition, which will be at Defiance on Tuesday, March 30th