The week of outreach was dubbed Cats Give Back Week.Ĭourtney Anthony, assistant director of community relations, oversaw the week of outreach, which takes place during the first week of the spring semester. The event was the track team's way to give back during a week in which student-athletes from all sports serve the community. Track and Field Day was the brainchild of Mara, who was the Student-Athlete Advisory Council's president and a team captain of the track team his senior year in 2011. The University of Arizona track and field team created an event called Track and Field Day to reach out to the Tucson community and introduce elementary-aged children to a dynamic sport. But elite athletes can become so caught up in enhancing their game that they miss out on these enlightening encounters with impressionable kids. And we learn, the impact children have on the elite athlete is equally powerful. The impact elite athletes have on children is profound. 'I thought 'there's no way these are real humans' at the time,' Mara said.Įventually, Mara reached his last year of high school and was training at extraordinary speeds with some of the athletes he was once stupefied by. Seniors in high school shared the track with young Mara and sped by the novice at seemingly impossible speeds. Jordan Mara, a former Arizona cross country and track and field runner, started running track as a wide-eyed, Canadian fifth grader.

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