With spring sports underway, the Kingswood Oxford track and field team is looking for a strong season with a ton of returning runners and throwers on this year’s roster.
The boys team started their season 1-0 with a win against Wilbraham and Monson Academy on April 9, and the girls put up a valiant effort but came up short. Junior sprinter and jumper Tyler Brown had a terrific performance in this meet, winning the 100-meter dash and also winning both the long and triple jump events.
The beginning of the season was cold, so conditions were difficult in these early meets. “Unfortunately, we haven’t had any good weather,” junior Captain Justin Morle said, “so I expect times and distances for everyone will be much better when we get warmer weather.”
The team has set high expectations for the season, with strong runners both joining and returning to the sport. “The season has been pretty good this year,” Morle said. “We have a great group of kids this year. And I want both our boys and girls teams to win as many meets as possible, and excel when it comes to postseason meets. I honestly feel like this is the year we win a New England championship, and the team is going to have many big PRs.”
The Wyverns returned all four members of their 4×100 relay and have been dominating so far this season. Brown, Morle, senior Co-captain Sandy Cloud, and senior Joey Kalinowski give the Wyverns speed and endurance, and have allowed them to prevail in their meets so far this season. These four athletes are working towards their goal of winning the 4×100 in both the Founder’s League Tournament and New England’s this coming month.
A very important part of the team is the help they give each other. “The team’s camaraderie is really good,” Cloud said. “I feel like upperclassmen and underclassmen bond in a great way. We have great leaders on this team that a lot of younger track stars look up to.” This aspect of the team is extremely important because it will allow for development and growth within the program.
In the first meet, the team was super supportive. “My favorite moment of our season thus far was seeing everybody at the first meet cheering their teammates on during their races,” Morle said. “It is such a good feeling to know that they want to see their teammates succeed.”
On the girls team, the Wyverns have seen consistently strong performances from senior distance runner Co-captain Claire Palmer, junior jumpers Nirali Iyengar and Co-captain Ella Golino, and sophomore jumper Selma Knutson. These athletes have been steadily improving over the course of the first three meets, with Palmer breaking her own school record in the 3000 from last year, resetting it to a time of 10 minutes, 3 seconds at a meet against teams from Loomis Chaffee and Westminster on April 16. Additionally, KO’s long, high, and triple jump squad has become more competitive this season, with Knutson and Golino placing second and third in long jump, Iyengar placing first in triple jump, and Knutson placing second in high jump at the Loomis meet. Finally, the girls 4×100 relay team ran a time of 54.43, beating out four other relays and placing second in the event. It is through these key events that the KO girls racked up points and earned the team second place overall at the meet, beating Westminster 40-14 while losing to Loomis 103-40.
This year’s Wyvern track and field team is a very strong and confident group, and the team is looking to continue their season with great success and improve their times. Everyone should root for them when they get the chance!
