On Saturday, April 4, the Track and Field team competed in their first meet of the season at Thayer Academy. As a whole, they had successful races, throws, and jumps, placing second amongst Thayer and Rivers. The weather was freezing and windy, but many athletes recorded personal best performances, and everyone is looking forward to continuing competing and improving throughout the season.
Two track athletes, Caden Prinsen ’28 and Margot Murphy-Hara ’28, mentioned the cold when asked about the weather conditions. Prinsen was not expecting the low temperatures combined with the wind and said that he “couldn’t feel [his] hands.” Luckily the team had plenty of time to warm up, as they arrived before 12 p.m. for a 1 p.m. start time, and he was able to regain some feeling before throwing shotput, discus, and javelin. In comparison, these temperatures were actually helpful for long distance runners like Murphy-Hara because she claimed, “When it's cold, you can dig deep, versus when it's hot, you feel kind of dead.” In addition to their strong performances, with Prinsen finishing 3rd in discus and shotput, both athletes are looking to improve upon their times and marks as the season continues. Though Murphy-Hara did not log a personal record in the 1500, she was satisfied with her performance because it “gave her something to…build off of.”
The coaches are also looking forward to a great season after the promising meet. Girls’ Head Coach and Sprints and Jumps Coach Christopher Lewis shared that he is “really proud of the effort everyone showed” in spite of the cold weather and regardless of experience. He then went on to note that since track does not make cuts, unlike most other varsity programs, the expectations going into this season and for the future are different for everyone. He hopes that returners and higher-leveled athletes can “build upon progress they’ve already made and get better and faster and stronger and push on to eventually place at championships,” while the newer additions to the team can “really see themselves in the program and connect with older kids and also push themselves to get faster and stronger as well.”
The first meet of the season highlighted not only a focal point in early training for track, but also the start of a supportive community that will continue to show up for each other throughout the spring season.
Additionally, the Girls’ Long Distance coach, Whitney Naslund—or Coach Whit—mentioned that everyone has a lot of nerves going into the first meet, but that “[the first meet] is super fun because that's also something you have to overcome.” Her favorite part of the first meet specifically is getting to watch her athletes lose the anxiety of meet day and gain the “freedom of just running a race.” Like Coach Lewis, Coach Whit is looking forward to “having athletes tell [her] their goals and then achieve them, regardless of time,” which is something the team hopes to accomplish this season. The team is excited and enjoying track every day; Murphy-Hara said, “Track is one of my favorite things ever. I love the team, and I love how it feels to move my body. I’m feeling really, really excited!”