The South Hadley girls indoor track and field team remained undefeated this season after beating West Springfield and Commerce during the late session of the PVIAC meet Friday at Smith College.
Sophomore Jocelyne Rondeau’s first-place finish in the 2-mile led the effort.
“I started off really strong for the first mile,” said Rondeau. “After the first mile, I got off pace a little bit. But it was still an OK run. It’s hard because I don’t want to get too tired out before the next mile coming up.”
Rondeau had a 6.43 second lead on runner-up Amy O’Sullivan of Westfield. Her 12:05.86 finish, however, does not match her personal-best time of 11:38.
“I think I kind of got a big lead and not getting to run with someone beside me kind of threw off my pace a little bit,” said Rondeau. “And then once I got so far off pace, my coaches told me to take it easy. Once I had 800 meters to go, I slowed it down.”
Rondeau explained that having her coach Luke Archambault close to her on the sidelines during the race keeps her motivated and focused on her goals.
“It’s really great having the coaches so close by to help you when you run,” said Rondeau.
Along with Rondeau’s win, sophomore Savannah Sudyka placed first in shot put (34 feet, 8½ inches) and Sarah Fudger was first in the 600 (1:42.55).
Rondeau works on running the mile and the 1,000-meter run to help increase her speed and endurance.
“Usually the team will have one long distance day of the week. I’m more focused on reps for the mile or the 1,000 meters. So I don’t do as much endurance at the beginning of the season,” she said.
Rondeau said she still has room to improve.
“I’m looking forward to improve for the next meet,” said Rondeau. “I hope I can beat my best time. I really wanted to do it today, but it just didn’t work out.”
South Hadley and Longmeadow are the only undefeated teams left.