Track 2022: off to an explosive start

March 7th marked the first day of the Spring sports season at HHS, and all of them seem to be in full swing. The baseball boys are batting, the softball girls are catching, and the lacrosse players are, lacrossing? Undoubtedly, spring sports are popular among our school's athletes, but the biggest sport among these is Track & Field. Clocking in with over 100 members, the Track team has seen a popularity it has not known since before the Covid-19 Pandemic. But how does the team size up this year, and is there any promise within its ranks?

As luck would have it, Tiger Times was able to get an exclusive interview with the legendary HHS coach, Pamela Wilson. This year's team, she said, was, “Very young. [We have] thirty new freshmen this year, which is the most we’ve had in a long time.” While most may look at this as a drawback, new blood is not always a bad thing. Compared to the non existent 2020 season, and the 2021 season (national participation in high school sports dropped considerably during this time), the present enrollment shows much promise for the coming years, as the nation recovers from the Coronavirus pandemic.

But what is the status of the returning players? Wilson has high hopes for them as well. “The experienced kids coming back should all do really well this year,” Wilson noted. “I’m looking forward to a really good relay team, and a really good boys shot and disc.” Last year, the girl's team ran a yearly record of 4:29:69 for the 4x400 relay, but the loss of senior Madison McHale will have to be made up for. It is unclear at this time if Angelene “Angie” Mattingly will be returning to the event for the upcoming season, but Kiara “Kiki” Koeller has announced plans to return. On the other hand, several key players for the boy’s shotput and discus teams are confirmed to be returning, including senior Matthew “Wise Guy” Wiseman, who led both teams last season, and junior Liam “Big Guy” Burke. Also returning to the ring are sophomores Luke “The Duke” Dougherty, Giovanni “Gio” Galacio, and Thomas “Tom-Tom” D’Olivo, all of whom were essential to the team’s success last year.

“Girl’s jav [javelin] is going to be really strong this year,” Wilson remarked, “and I think we’re gonna do really well in the jumps: long and triple.” Sophomores Megan “Meggles” Kerwin and Kelby “Kelbs” Kaiser led the girls team last year, both reaching personal records over seventy feet. An anonymous, yet strikingly handsome and extremely talented scout has reported that the first few javelin practices, coached by Joshua Hontz, have drawn a considerable amount of newcomers to the event, many of whom show a considerable amount of promise for the upcoming season. The jumping teams have lost quite a few members this year, but the girl’s teams will see the return of “Kiki” Koeller and Mia “Lifey” Liferiedge.

“[Last year] we had a lot of quarantined kids, in and out, but this year everyone seems to be a lot healthier.” Undoubtedly, Covid-19 had a large impact on the team the past two seasons, and Wilson mentioned that there were a few members who seemed to be quarantined more than others last year, but it was, “Mostly the Burke boys.” It goes without saying that all the spring teams had their fair share of troubles with the pandemic, but the Track & Field team had it harder than most. According to a few sources, who wish to remain anonymous, a party held by one of the students at HHS led to the mass quarantine of many of the student athletes. Due to quarantine protocols at the time, the track program itself was shut down for two weeks. Despite this setback, the team and coaches remained optimistic. “I’m looking at having fewer kids because of [Covid-19 rates decreasing], Covid is kind of on the downslide,” Wilson added.

When asked about key returners this year, Wilson had this to say: “pole vault is really young, so we’re not going to have any real stars there, it’s going to be a learning year for us.” Quarantine rates on the team led to slim numbers at practice last year, and prevented Coach Wilson from being able to hold pole vault sessions. “Our experienced hurdlers are coming back, Sam Burke, and Brennan and Bosch, Hatten.” Samson “Swammy” Burke holds the third highest time for boys 400 meter hurdles on the team this year, and like his older brother, had only one regular season meet last year due to Covid-19. Junior Patrick “Tesla” Brennan placed second against Delaware Valley in the 110 and 400 meter hurdles, and third in the 110 meter against Lenape Valley. Jack “Blondie” Bosch, a junior this year, placed third in the 110 meter against Delaware Valley, and second against Lenape in the 400 meter. Evan “Longs Legs” Hatten, one of the few seniors on the team, placed first in both the 110 and 400 meter hurdles against Lenape Valley.

Coach Wilson’s time with me was short, as she has an all-star Track & Field team to coach, but is much appreciated. Wilson, along with her elite coaching staff, consisting of Joshua Hontz, Philip Torres, Tara McMinn, and Frank “Rodg” Rodgers, are all looking forward to the season and watching the team develop as the season goes on.