Just like anything else in its early stages, the indoor track team is a lot of fun, but it is also a lot of hard work, according to the team’s coach, Andrew Barron.,It is a team with little identity and even less recognition. In fact, the indoor track team is not even listed on the Athletics Department Web site. But what the team lacks in publicity, they make up for in work ethic.

Just like anything else in its early stages, the indoor track team is a lot of fun, but it is also a lot of hard work, according to the team’s coach, Andrew Barron.

This is the first year Emerson is recognizing the indoor track team as a varsity sport.

Before this year, the team was considered a club at Emerson. With only a small amount of success and interest, Jamie Clouthier, a junior broadcast journalism major, “thought the whole thing had died.”

Last season, the team only participated in one of six scheduled meets. Clouthier, one of the eight athletes on the team, was disappointed until he got an e-mail from the athletic department saying the team was back on.

“I’m really glad the program is starting up,” Clouthier said.

Clouthier, who is also on the baseball team, sprints both the 55-meter and the 200-meter events, and he runs both of them fast. His best time in the 55-meter is 7.18 seconds and in the 200-meter, 25.07 seconds. Clouthier said he is enjoying taking advantage of the new facilities at Emerson College.

Barron describes the sport as demanding, with four practices a week and meets that run all day on Saturdays.

“You have to put in a lot of hours,” Barron said.

The meets can last up to eight hours when the athletes are participating in multiple events. The events include relays, track and field, and sprinting.

The team practices twice a week in Boston Common and twice a week at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Roxbury.

Clouthier describes the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center as “one of the best gyms on the East Coast, if not in the country.”

He takes advantage of the facility by taking his “time [there] very seriously,” he said.

“There is always room for improvement,” he added.

This season may be what track and softball athlete Jess Silva calls an “experimental year,” but at the rate this team is going, the Lions are looking to catch up.

Silva is a sophomore audio major who competes in the shot put. Her furthest throw thus far is 28 feet.

Just hired in December, Barron is excited to be the head coach of a young team with outstanding potential.

A resident of Dedham, Mass., Barron is also the shipping coordinator for Super Radio in Framingham and DJs for WMRC 1490 AM in Milford.

An outdoor track team is also developing for next season. Clouthier encourages anyone to get involved and said he doesn’t mind being the only male on the team.

“It’s cool because I can do my own thing, and then go and cheer on the girls,” he said.

However, Clouthier would like for the team to become known as an official sport on campus and see both the indoor and outdoor track teams grow into a big program.

“I am having a great time, and I am glad to be a part of it,” he said. “It will be nice for it to come together for the school.”

Barron plans on recruiting athletes for next year and hopes word of mouth will get other students to join.

Every skill type is welcomed, according to Barron, and while many of the athletes have run track in the past, others have no experience.

“It’s tough when you first start out, but it will get better in the upcoming years,” he said.