Junior Logan Breisinger started track and field to improve his performance in basketball. Now track has become his main focus.
“I originally started track to get more athletic for basketball until I realized that I liked track more and didn’t have time for basketball anymore,” he said.
Breisinger started off as a jumper, but now competes in hurdles and relay events.
“I really wanted to start jumping because I was in basketball and wanted to learn to jump higher, but then it switched into hurdles and sprints and whatever the team needed me to do,” he said.
On Tuesday, Breisinger became 300 meter hurdle section champ, going undefeated in the section in that event.
Breisinger is approaching Baldwin’s 300 hurdle record 38 seconds. Hitting this record would put him in the top five fastest in the state for this event, he said.
“I know that I have the ability to do it, but I would need the utmost execution of everything I have worked on to do it before the end of the season,” he said.
Junior Jack Reichl said Breisinger has moved closer to the Baldwin record this season.
“Last season he was stuck around 43 seconds, and he told me he was hoping to break the school record by his senior year,” Reichl said. “As of now, he has run a 40.4, and I would be pretty surprised if he doesn’t break the 39 mark this season.”
Reichl said Breisinger’s determination to progress makes him a standout member of the team.
“I think he definitely stands out because he’s one of the only hurdlers on our team,” he said. “But his work ethic and determination set him apart from others.”
Breisinger competes in the 300 hurdles, 110 hurdles, and 4×400. He said his strongest event is the 300 hurdles and that he alters his training for each event.
“If I’m training for the 110 hurdles, I’ll do more shorter workouts focusing on speed. But if I’m working on the 300 hurdles or 4×4, then I’ll be running longer workouts, still focusing on speed, but also trying to work on composure through the rough parts of the race,” he said.
Reichl said he sees Breisinger staying consistent with these plans.
“He sets up training plans for his entire season and sticks to them, regardless of how he’s feeling,” Reichl said.
Breisinger said he has been motivated by Coach Ed Helbig, who had inspired him to continue growing.
“As someone who has never stood out in any specific area, I just really want to show people that they can be special and achieve their goals if they work hard enough on something that they truly enjoy,” Breisinger said
He said he enjoys the teamwork aspect of his relay with teammates Reichl and seniors Zach Lieu and McKinley Beech.
“I like running the relay since track is such an individual sport that (the relay) brings the teamwork into it,” he said.
He said that trust is a large factor in a relay, and the team’s strong relationship helps them continue to improve.
“I’m not really worried about what the other guys run because I trust them and know that they’re going to do the best that they can. So it’s really just about me focusing on how good I can do and making sure I can give the baton off to give them the best chance,” Breisinger said.
“Logan has a really great work ethic,” Lieu said. “When I was training for soccer over the summer, I would go to the high school field and practice. I would see him there practicing for track every day. When you’re working for the entire summer and in the off-season of your sport to continuously get better, I think that speaks a lot about your work ethic.”
Lieu remembers the first time that Breisinger ran for the 4×400 relay team.
“Just recently, during the 4×4 relay, we were worried about who the fourth person would be. There’s always three of us decided, but we can never figure out who the last person would be,” Lieu said. “The coaches approached Logan and asked, ‘Do you want to step up and try to run it?’ And he did.”
Now, Breisinger is on the varsity 4×400 relay team.
“I think him stepping up and being a leader to take the spot on the 4×4 and actually performing how he should is very admirable,” Lieu said.
