After a lengthy hiatus, high school boys and girls outdoor track finally returned to the sporting scene this week.
Despite a year off, Hampshire County schools are excited to get back into action with their sights set on postseason meets next month. Here’s a closer look at some of the things to watch out for this spring:
South Hadley enters the spring with a total of 26 athletes (22 girls, 5 boys). Girls coach Nick Davis mentioned that despite the long time away, things are off to a solid start.
“Kids were excited to be back on a real track,” Davis said. “We were on the turf in South Hadley during the Fall 2 season, so getting over to a real track has been nice. They finally made it so we’ll be able to do real workouts and practice field events. It felt more like a track season.”
About half of the girls’ team consists of seniors, something Davis noted could be a clear advantage.
“From a team scoring perspective, we’re definitely going to be just as successful as in the past if not even more successful,” Davis offered. “I think if there are championships, we have a chance to contend like we have in the past.”
Practicing outdoors has its advantages in terms of fighting COVID regulations. The Tigers are able to have the same amount of practice times as past seasons, though masks must be worn and social distancing regulations followed.
“The social distancing dynamic is not too difficult to accomplish,” Davis said. “We have been broken up into little pods, so they’re not working across groups too much, which is definitely helpful in focusing on skill performance.”
Davis predicted the Tigers will perform well in the jumping events this spring.
“I’m very excited about how our high jumpers are progressing along with our other field event athletes as well,” he said. “We kind of picked up right where we left off.”
Both Northampton teams have heavy shoes to fill as reigning 2019 Western Mass. champions. Despite a year off, the Blue Devils are ready to pick up where they left off.
Northampton had a huge turnout this year with a whopping 90 athletes between the teams. Most on the roster are underclassmen, though that imbalance is not a bad a thing. Girls coach Linda Rowbotham anticipates a strong lineup overall.
“Both teams I would say are extremely strong right now,” Rowbotham said. “We have a lot of solid performers and it’s not just the senior class, the junior class is extremely strong. We picked up a good number of underclassmen in the boys that are going to help a lot. In the past, the boys team was a little bit smaller, but now, it’s built up a lot.”
Rowbotham lauded senior high jumper Kate Sullivan, who she anticipates having a strong outdoor season after sticking with the sport following indoor track.
“We thought we were losing Kate to lacrosse this year,” Rowbotham said. “She actually decided to stay with track and she’s amazing high jumper. She is going to do really great things in the jumps and so that was kind of cool that she made the decision to stick with it after doing only one season of indoor track in 2020.”
Hampshire Regionalhas between 25-30 athletes this year, and the girls’ side will be led by five seniors: Delaney Marek, Maddie Jenkins, Jillian Scott, Jessie Paradis and Jocelyn Salamao. The boys team consists of all underclassmen this spring.
Susannah Tracy coached the boys team in 2019 and has worked as an assistant with both teams on and off over the last 15 years. Maddy Scott is a new coach this year, and Billy Broaddus is new to track and field.
“Jeff Fish and Sylvie Mahon-Moore are expected to do really well in the distance events this year,” Scott said.
“Our boys distance crew is pretty deep, and there are many returning athletes on both teams who are focused and looking strong,” Tracy offered. “Some returning individuals we are expecting to do well include Gulian Marconi (sprints), Josh Denoronha (jumps), Jillian Scott (pole vault), Brie Salomao (jumps and sprints).”
Tracy had nothing but positive things for both teams going forward.
“It’s so good to be working together outdoors again,” she said. “The kids really want to be here and have been working hard. We are just so happy to have a season and have really been enjoying working with the athletes.”
Coming out of the Fall II season, Amherst has 23 athletes on the girls team and 26 on the boys team this spring.
Girls coach Chris Gould expects to compete well in the distance events.
“We have a strong distance team,” Gould said. “It’s not huge but it’s substantial. I think we’ll compete well in the distant ranks. I think Anajisa Robinson, who is a junior, will shine. She’s a very, very accomplished sprinter.”
Gould also expects big things out of Charlotte Staudenmayer, a senior who came out and ran cross country for the first time this year.
“She’s very talented,” Gould said. “She’s been on and off with injuries over the last couple of years so she has not competed until this year. She’s in great shape right now. I expect her to run with the best of them in the state this year.”
Another bright spot for the Hurricanes is senior Grace Garmin, who could be a multi-event scorer. If the girls team manages to get a heptathlon together at the end of the year, Gould predicted she could be a dangerous performer.
“I’m just really excited to work with athletes to manage to get some social interaction,” Gould said. “They’re working very hard for us already. And I feel like the spirit among them is something that’s really going to hold them in good stead and give us a satisfying season.”