This spring, a new sport will join the IM roster.

After nearly a year of brainstorming and writing proposals, IM secretaries approved track to be an IM sport on Feb. 18 and plan to debut the sport after Yalies return from spring break. There will be two divisional meets, each with six events: the 100m, 400m, 800m, 1600m, 4x100m, and 4x400m. Head IM secretary Peter Jasinski ’12 said that a final date for the meets has not yet been set as he is now in the process of reserving a time at Yale’s Dwyer Track.

Because this will be the first year that IM track will be offered, no Tyng Cup points will be awarded. Jasinski said that if there is enough participation, the IM committee would consider distributing points for the sport next year. Still, many are glad to hear of the addition.

“There is a lack of sports that cater towards runners in the winter and spring,” Jasinski said. “Hopefully this can fill that void.”

Jasinski said Alison Griswold ’13, a friend of his, first came up with the idea in the fall of her freshman year. (Griswold is a staff reporter for the News.) After running for 12 seasons in high school in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track events, Griswold wanted to continue running in college. She said that the IM secretaries could not add track last year because they were adding dodgeball.

“Logistically, it would be highly unlikely they could add two sports,” Griswold said.

Griswold submitted a formal proposal to Jasinski at the start of this school year after which she and the IM secretaries went back and forth with edits to the proposal. The original proposal included field events and two 4x800m relays, but in the end, five events were eliminated and participation requirements were lowered.

Jasinski said that he and the other IM secretaries decided to cut field events from the proposal because of safety concerns. He also added that, for now, he wants to make sure there are people for all of the events. Jasinski said that the committee would consider adding more in the future.

The rules allow two people from each college to compete in every event, and each competitor can participate in up to four events. Though some secretaries are concerned about participation, not all anticipate there will be an issue.

“I think participation will be fine,” TD IM secretary Andrew Marconi ’13 said. “It really doesn’t require that many people when you think of it in terms of other sports: Football is seven people every week, and soccer is 11 people every week.”

Lindsey Mischner ’13, a Trumbull IM secretary, said that the addition of track will give the spring IM season an individual dimension similar to cross country in the fall and swimming in the winter. Griswold said that the brevity of the event will allow more Yalies to participate.

“Unlike other sports where you are committing yourself to many games, IM track is just one track meet,” Griswold said. She said she believes participation is constrained by Yalies’ busy schedules more than anything else.