Track team breaks records and builds team spirit

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Judah Francella. ’20 is captured running during an indoor track meet.

Rowan McWhinnie and Kate Stein

After only three meets this year, the Master’s track team has broken double the number of school records since 2018.  

The girls team, in particular, has made immense progress assisted by several new talented runners coming up from the middle school: Lauren Marlowe, Sabine Godwin, and Hanna Shapiro. The track team has broken up to nine records last year and this year combined. 

Listed are the records broken by the following girls; Lauren Marlowe ‘23, Sabrina Wolfson ‘22, Zia Foxhall ‘20, and Camille Smith ‘22, broke the 4 by 2. Camille Smith and Sabine Godwin ‘23  broke the 4 by 4. Zia Foxhall broke the 300 and Camille Smith broke the 55.

One of the three team captains, Dorian Gilmartin ‘20 said the Masters track team hasn’t seen this many records broken in a while. Gilmartin said, “It’s significantly more, the last time we broke a good amount of records was my sophomore year, when we only broke four.” Coach Chris Geisting said, “Some of that is because this year, a lot more people have chosen track over other sports.” 

For all of the track meets, The Masters team must commute to The Armory located in Manhattan. Though the trip may take a while, the coaches see it as a team building opportunity, “It’s a longer trip than we would have wanted, but it’s fun because they get to socialize and it’s a really good bonding experience for them.” Franny Mann ‘21 appreciates the encouragement for her teammates. She said,  “Whenever I run, I hear my team and I’ll look up and smile at them.” 

The coaches hope to have as many qualifying players as possible to run at the New York State Association of Independent Schools meet, also known as NYSAIS, which is the most competitive meet of the season. Coach Juan Cobos said, “Right now, we will probably bring fifteen people to the meet which is twice the size of last year’s team.” However, due to injury some runners may not compete at the NYSAIS meet.

The team’s list of injured runners includes star runner Cameron Lovett ‘23, who has been injured for most of the season. Both coaches think that Lovett would have easily qualified for NYSAIS. However, even on the side lines, Lovett continues to support the team by joining and cheering on his teammates at the meets. A few other strong runners are injured as well. Cobos said, “We have so much talent that’s not running right now. We’re still not at full strength, yet we’re having the success that we are.” 

The track team aims to continue their success in upcoming meets.