Track Runs in Harvard Meet, Looking Ahead to the Spring Season

The winter track team made the trip to Harvard for their last meet of the season this past Sunday. Unlike their other meets, the runners had an opportunity to work on their times, improve their racing skills and get some meet practice in at the collegiate matchup. This race served as a capstone for the winter season, with the spring track season right around the corner.The winter season has been a successful one for all of the athletes. There was impressive effort from the athletes and hopefully that work will pay off for the runners who continue their season during the spring.“The season overall has been very successful. People worked hard all season and posted some good times along the way,” senior captain John Kennealy said. However, it has been a different season than usual, in that all the meets have been away. Also, most meets have had an emphasis on individual performance. “The only really team oriented meet in our schedule was E/A, and we performed well there with both the boys varsity and JV winning convincingly. The girls put up a good fight, unfortunately losing by just a few points,” Kennealy added.The meet at Harvard was another individual meet, seeing as the competition was simply too intense to offer a real chance of victory. “It was a big meet run by the USATF with lots of fast competition. Most of the athletes were either college runners or adult club runners,” Kennealy said.While the meet was longer than most, it was still a valuable experience for all involved. “The meet went really well. I think we competed really well as a team against other high schools and colleges,” upper Lloyd Campbell said. “Even though we were there for a long time, I think everyone was able to compete well for their event.”While all the runners performed well, there were a few people who stood out. Uppers Marcus and Mason Polk had exceptional meets, with both brothers laying down best times in the 400-meter race. Both boys finished in the 51-52 second range, coming narrowly close of breaking school records, which Marcus has already done once this year.Looking ahead to the spring season, all the athletes are enthused about the team. “I'm excited to see a bigger number of kids come out next spring,” Marcus Polk said. “Due to limited space this term, we had to cut our numbers a little, but it's always really fun to run with a bigger group.”Kennealy also voiced his excitement for the upcoming season. “Several of the athletes who made an impact at interschols last spring are returning to the team this year and have been showing improvement through the winter. Winter track also featured some promising new talent on the team, and I can't wait to see how those athletes are able to perform this spring.”And so the winter season has come to a close, but the runners are pleased with the outcome. “I'm really happy with the effort we've put in this term and I think our success reflects that,” Marcus Polk said.