There’s no ‘I’ in team, but there is one in ‘indoor track,’ and for Belmont High School’s boys’ and girls’ teams, the ‘I’ is where the focus has been.
“I don’t think we’re a super competitive team,” Marauders girls’ senior captain Mira Gardner said. “But I think we really focused on … individual, personal bests and supporting each other. Just having fun.”
Despite the individual efforts of their strongest runners, both the boys’ (0-5) and girls’ (0-4-1) teams went winless in their Middlesex League meets last season. However, with most of their top athletes returning along with a focus on addressing their weaker events, there’s hope among the coaching staff for improvement across the board.
“We have a cohort of really strong seniors now, who were great last year as juniors,” Marauders boys’ coach Eric Ahern said. “And a bunch of incoming ninth-graders, not to downplay the other grades, but we kind of have nice bookends. So we’re excited about the level of talent that’s incoming and having role models as well to kind of look up to.”
Both teams pride themselves on their distance events— the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams each finished fifth at their respective Middlesex League Championships this past fall—and sprints/hurdles boast key members as well. It’s the jumps and field events the coaches are hoping the team can make up ground in.
“We score in every event, so ultimately, if we’re not scoring in any of the field events, we’re going to struggle to perform as a whole team,” boys’ assistant coach Brenton Lussier said. “So definitely [focusing on] the field events is a huge area of growth.”
Dana Lehr is headlining the girls’ team. As a junior last season, Lehr won the mile at the Middlesex League Championship with a 5:10.79 finish, and she placed second at the Division 2 State Championship (5:02.12).
Juniors Kira Van Kelsted and Siri Iagnemma finished 10th and 11th in the Middlesex League Mile Championship, respectively, as sophomores last year. Gardner is the top hurdler, and fellow senior Lucy Hamer will be a factor in the long jump and other distance events. Marauders girls’ coach Mark Olowinski believes all four will play major roles this season.
“[They] have been really consistent as underclassmen and now kind of get to take on this leadership role, so I’m excited for them,” Olowinski said.
On the boys’ side, senior Kaiyan Talavia will vie for top sprinting honors after finishing fourth in the 55-meters at the Middlesex League Championship last year (6.81), while seniors Mark Chumack and Ian Hettenback lead the distance runners.
While there is a more individual focus in track and field, part of that comes with teammates cheering on each other in separate events rather than competing at the same time. Along with a concerted effort to improve results, the program’s supportive nature helps the individual contributors connect more as a team.
“Part of the meet is … it’s so big and so long that it’s just fun to watch different events and see your peers in different events succeeding and winning,” Hettenback said. “So that’s like half of the fun of track. It’s not running, but watching the other people run and seeing their results.”
