Will Elick is one of the best athletes at Saint Joseph High School. He is a standout athlete on the boys track team. He competes in the high hurdles, 300 meter hurdles and long jump and excels at all of these events. In his first two seasons with the Saint Joe team he has already been competing at a high level in all three of these events. At the end of his sophomore season he qualified for the state championship meet in Indianapolis, competing in the 300 meter hurdles. He is very close to the school records in both the high hurdles and 300 meter hurdles with times of 15.21 and 39.2 seconds respectively. He also jumps 21 feet in the long jump. 

Will has already been competing early in the indoor season in long jump and the 60 meter high hurdles and has been continuing to do very well. He has done well enough to qualify for the New Balance Nationals indoor meet where he will be competing in the 60 meter high hurdles on March 14 in Boston. 

Will’s early success does not just come from exceptional talent, although he definitely exhibits that, it comes from all of the hard work he puts into his training. Hurdling can be a very particularly challenging event for most people in general due to its requirement of both technical skill and physical ability. In hurdling height can be a very important factor and it is a big advantage for the taller athletes as it helps them to get over the hurdles easier as they do not have to come up as far off the ground. Having longer legs also helps to cover more space as hurdling has a big emphasis on rhythm and spacing and if an athlete can not cover enough ground between each hurdle they will not be able to be a good hurdler. This poses a particular extra challenge for Will as he is shorter than most hurdlers as he acknowledged himself in an interview. However he makes up for this advantage with his athleticism. He covers plenty of ground with his speed and avoids losing time over the hurdles with his technique as he is proficient enough technically to avoid losing time over the hurdles compared to even many taller athletes. He also has to be very disciplined to deal with the challenges of competing in multiple events on meet days and in practicing for his multiple different events.  Will has put in a lot of time and effort in order to become as skilled as he is not only in hurdles but also in long jump.
Starting out as freshman Will had no intention of hurdling and was initially not very good at it, running a time of about 20 seconds in his first race of the 110 meter high hurdles, although this is somewhat typical for people with very little experience running this event and he actually did show more natural talent for it than most people do running 20 seconds. But with his hard work and dedication he has improved vastly to running a time of 15.21 seconds over a pretty short period of time, having only about two years of experience. This puts him very close to the school record as he trends toward claiming that for himself sooner rather than later in both the 110 meter high hurdles and the 300 meter hurdles. It is very possible that he even breaks one or both of these school records this season. 

This season Will aims to make it back to the state championship meet in June and to make into the top five for the 300 meter hurdles. He also plans to focus his attention more on hurdling than on other events. Currently he is focused on the 60 meter high hurdles as that is what he will be competing in at the indoor national meet in Boston. He is narrowing his focus to best prepare to compete in this event especially as he nurses a small injury leading up to the meet. For the outdoor seasons he intends to focus his attention more towards the 110 meter high hurdles and the 300 meter hurdles. He wants  to continue to improve in both as he hopes not only to get back to the state meet for the 300 hurdles but also to place in the top five. He also hopes to make it past the regionals in the high hurdles as well.