Girls Track and Field Triumphs Over Agawam
The Brownies fell at the hands of the Spartans by a score of 96-36.
Wednesday afternoon’s meet served to be a giant confidence booster for coach Michael Budd and his team.
Sophomore Funmi Coates led the way with 1st place efforts in the 100 meter dash and 200 meter dash. She had a time of 13.20 seconds in the 100 meter dash and 27.50 seconds in the 200 meter dash.
The Spartans also earned first place in both the 400 meter run and 800 meter run thanks to freshman Lindsey Rivers and junior Samantha Edwards.
Not to mention junior Emily Baker earning first place in the mile run and junior Destinee Fox earning first place in the 110 hurdles.
Although they didn’t come out on top in the high jump and long jump, junior Amelia Czudec secured first place in the pole vault with a height of 08-00.
Czudec’s pole vault, which also earned first place in the Spartans’ first meet against Longmeadow, was described by coach Budd as looking “really, really good.”
Senior captain Alisha Ramesh also earned first place in the discus, an event in which she consistently sets personal records and is currently at the top of her league.
Ramesh and many others have also already qualified for the state meet in their respective events, but, according to Coach Budd, there is still a lot of work to be done.
“We have a lot to improve upon,” Budd said. “We have made some improvements since our indoor season, but we still have a long way to go. We just have to work smarter and harder.”
With new girls joining the team for the spring season, senior captains Ramesh, Abby Davis, and Julieann Voight stepped up.
“It has been a bit of a challenge in teaching all of the new people new events, but they’ve really stepped up,” Voight said.
“There’s been lots of progress made throughout our practices and meets,” Davis said. “We show a lot of potential, and I think this will be a really great season for us.”
Coach Budd also added that the team’s new additions feature some “really talented freshmen, but they’ve got a long way to go.”
As for the returners, Davis went on to explain how the indoor season prepared the team for their outdoor season.
“With the way the indoor season went, I knew that work was going to pay off during the outdoor season,” Davis said. “The successes we’ve had so far have boosted our confidence, but have also been earned.”
Ramesh credits all of the success the team has achieved so far this season to her teammates’ hard work.
“It just goes to show that we are very dedicated to all of our fields and events,” Ramesh said.
As for the rest of their season, each captain has goals, both broad and specific, for their team to achieve.
“Personally, I’ve been dealing with a hamstring injury, so I want to overcome that and get back into competing,” Voight said. “As for the whole team, I want everyone to be able to find what they’re good at, set personal records, and overall be happy this season.”
“I just want to see everyone else succeed,” Davis said. “I want everyone at the end of the season to be happy with their personal records and how they performed. I want to make sure that I can help everyone in any way that I can to reach their goals.”
The Spartans compete next Monday against Amherst.
