Story by Clara Firtos, Contributing writer

When you think of track, hurdles and running shoes normally come to mind, not pliés or dancing shoes. That’s not the case for Murray State’s women’s track team in All Campus Sing.

All Campus Sing is a well known form of entertainment among the surrounding community.  The Murray State tradition is high in attendance and breeds competition on campus.

The track team has never  had the opportunity to compete in All Campus Sing before, and  Head Coach Jenny Swieton said she was happy when her team was able to come together and compete.

“It was always something they wanted to do, and they have been talking about it for years,” Swieton said. “I am so happy they finally did it.”

Women’s track holds a special competition during their team week called The Sing Off.

They get separated into teams and their objective is to take a song and change the words to make it about track and field. They then perform the songs and select a winner at the end of all performances.

“The songs they used were made in the past from old Sing Off competitions,” Swieton said. “Everyone helped make the songs; even some alumni [SIC] returned to help.”

Swieton said she was excited to see the women perform and she was proud of them.

“I think they were nervous, but they are used to performing in front of people athletically,” Swieton said. “So I think that helped.”

Madison Jones, freshman from LaGrange, Indiana, said she thinks she and her teammates performed well.

“The week before we didn’t think we were going to continue to do it,” Jones said. “Because we had to change a lot of things, but then three days before the actual competition, we nailed it.”

Jones said what kept them going was excitement, dedication and the support they were showing one another.

“Our coaches, Hannah Burton, Kennedy Berkley and Lauren Miller were very helpful and communicative with us throughout the whole process,” said Jones. “We even had a fun pizza party with them.”

Jones said Burton helped her a lot on choreography and vocal range.

“Most of us aren’t used to our singing vocals and ranges,” Jones said, “Hannah helped us find our ranges from either alto or soprano.”

Jones’ favorite cover they performed was Katy Perry’s “Roar.”

“Track going vocal, now that’s interesting,” Jones said.

Swieton said the women are currently already planning for their performance in next year’s All Campus Sing and are preparing for the upcoming OVC Championship.

“We are having a good year, and  I am really excited to see what they will do out at championships in a few weeks,” said Swieton. “We are definitely in a good place.”

Despite all of the stresses of the season, the women’s track and field team came out with an award for Most Creative Performance at All Campus Sing.