Co-Captain Nick Koobatian ’22 began his indoor track career in his Upper year. Despite this being his first season competing in Indoor Track, Koobatian’s previous experience in Spring Track and Field and his leadership has earned him the title of Co-Captain this season.
“I began outdoor track [in the] spring of my [Junior] year. I started doing indoor track my Upper year and it was on Zoom so it was kind of weird, but it was still fun. The track team continued to do stuff and we ran at home, so we kept ourselves accountable,” said Koobatian.
He continued, “Since [Junior] year, I’ve continued to do track as a sport, just because the community was super welcoming and engaging as well. That also aided self-improvement, and the community seemed very welcoming and ambitious.”
With over a hundred athletes on Indoor Track and Field and co-ed practices, the co-captains have to collaborate to lead the large team, according to Koobatian.
“Something unique is that Track and Field has four co-captains: two girls, two guys. The team is mixed, so there is not really a division between the boys’ training and the girls’ training. So the four captains work together in a sense since it’s one gigantic team of four co-captains. I think having so many co-captains is beneficial because you get that diversity of ideas. With those ideas, there’s a better way to implement solutions to problems, more depth of the ideas we can draw from to apply to practices and training and meets. It’s a lot of hands-on-deck because the team is so big, so it makes sense that there’s a lot of co-captains so we can adequately split up during practices,” Koobatian said.
According to Matthew Ottenbreit ’22 and Matthew Wasilewski ’24, Koobatian’s leadership style can be described as encouraging due to his constant motivation to other team members.
Ottenbreit said, “In terms of his leadership, he is definitely one of the most spirited members of the team. During warm-ups and before competitions, he’s always excited to be at practice or to be competing that day. He does a really good job of bringing the team together in terms of traditions and excitement.”
In an email to The Phillipian, Wasilewski added, “Nick is a captain that will always go out of his way to make you feel welcomed and engaged. He does a great job during warmups making sure that everybody is energized and ready for practice. Also, before meets, Nick is always there to spread positive energy and motivation so that we can all run hard and reach our goals.”
Koobatian describes himself as a passionate leader and realizes the importance of his position on the team.
“I care a lot about my leadership on the team because I recognize that I was only put in this position because I was elected by the team, so every single time I go on the track, I’m passionate because I want to make sure that the team itself is succeeding and their fate wasn’t put in my and I wasn’t doing the right thing. I’m always striving to make sure the team is doing well and all. And also passion because I care about the sport a lot. It kind of goes hand in hand. The leadership works because I care so much about the track team and it’s been a home to me for the past four years, and I love running so much. I just want to make sure that it remains that way for other kids who experience it,” Koobatian said.
