After years under the leadership of Coach Tyler Belding, the West Chicago track program is entering a new chapter. With Belding stepping down, the team is welcoming a new head coach.
With a fresh season ahead, Coach Daniel Greco is stepping up to lead both the boys and girls track teams. Bringing a strong mindset to the role, Greco hopes to instill the same determination and focus in the athletes as they prepare for the upcoming season.
“One of the things that I want to instill in our athletes is kind of [having] a level of accountability, per se. So I, you know, [want to make] sure we’re at practice, you know, on the regular, not kind of popping in and out,” Greco said.
Before stepping into the role at WEGO, Greco coached at Glenbard East for 10 years. While he enjoyed the experience, he found the situation came with challenges.
“What was challenging for me [was] trying to run a team, be the head coach of a team, be in charge of, you know, all my responsibilities at a different school. I didn’t see my athletes until, you know, practice time,” Greco said. “I couldn’t find them in the hallways. I didn’t get to interact with athletes that I have in my class and whatnot. So that made that kind of challenging for me to try and run a team not being in the building.”
When the position at WEGO opened up, Greco weighed his options.
“I just figured it’s going to be much easier for me to run the kind of program I want to run, being in the building. I can now recruit kids in the hall, or if I have them in a strength training class, [I can] say, ‘Hey, you know what? Maybe this track and field thing might be something you’d be good at,’” Greco said.
With track season underway, Greco is beginning to put his plans into motion. As both coaches and athletes work to improve WEGO’s program, students have already noticed a difference but are still adjusting to his coaching style.
“I think he’s definitely very work-based. He’s very efficient. I wish he would do a little bit more. His motto is ‘no school, no practice,’ which I feel like is just not as good as it could be,” junior Noah Case said.
Students appreciate Greco’s efforts but believe he can push even harder to elevate the track team and set them on the right path.
“Greco is very dedicated. He wants us to do our best so when it comes to conference and state time, we are pushing ourselves to be great,” senior Caitlin Gilmore said.
With the season progressing, Greco hopes to create a strong team environment.
“One thing that I know our team asked a lot of when I surveyed all the athletes who ran track last year was, ‘Hey, what sort of things do you want to see in kind of team-building connectivity with all the events?'” Greco said. “[So] it’s not just like sprinters versus distance people. I want to have everybody on the team knowing each other, supporting each other – guys and girls.”
