Many athletes improved times despite limited practice time due to weather
Shayna Kapadia | Staff Writer
On Wednesday, April 2nd, Irvington’s track and field team had its first tri-meet against Kennedy and Washington, where athletes, received many personal time records and jumps despite facing stormy weather conditions that disrupted their practice in the previous week.
Not only did the bad weather hinder their practice, but their previous meet was also canceled. “I think we were all really excited for this meet because last week we didn’t get to run so we are ready to compete today,” explained senior distance runner Pritha Roy. “It’s a tri-meet, so I think that makes it even more competitive because there are more people running against you.”
In an effort to have people in all categories, approximately a week before the meet, Coach Stone made the decision to take some of the Frosh/Soph girls from sprinting and placed them in hurdles. “We needed more kids to score, so Shivali [one of the hurdlers], she said ‘I did it before,’ so I said ‘What are you doing over here?’” explains Coach Stone. “Then Coach David set them up.”
Due to the rain, the girls had to find alternative ways to practice. “Yesterday we were practicing over trashcans,” said freshman hurdler Radhika Munshina, “We were afraid we were going to fall over the hurdles.” Despite the limited amount of practice time, the girls finished third and fourth in the 55 meter race.
Along with the Frosh/Soph girl’s success, many athletes on the team achieved personal records and noticeable jumps in their times.
“I PRed [got a personal record] in all my events which were the 1/2 mile 1 mile and 2 mile,” said freshman distance runner Amanda Tran. “I try to push myself harder each week and I am really proud of myself for PRing in each event.”
The Frosh/Soph boys, including freshman distance runner Mitchell Hogle who won 1st place in the 1600 meter race, also performed well scoring 96-39 against Washington and 105-30 against Kennedy.
Similarly the girls’ varisty team did well scoring 105-31 against Kennedy. The 4 by 4 team, including Kirsten Wong, Haley Yuen, Elizabeth Rickey, and Kayla Gil, also placed first.
“Considering the wetness and what not, they did really well and you know there is room for improvement, “said Coach Stone.
