This winter season Abington High School had a new sport: Winter Track and Field. Previously, Track and Field had been offered only as a spring sport at AHS, but when the idea was raised that it could be offered as a winter sport as well, many jumped at the offer.

The team was coached by Mr. Matthew Campbell, a history teacher at Abington Middle School, and Mr. Michael Caseley, paraprofessional at Abington Middle School. The Captains were Brice Tolan and Katie Marando, both seniors at AHS.  

For practices, the athletes trained primarily in three locations: in the school’s weight room, running around the school, and at the track. Their meets were held at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston every Monday. 

When interviewed, Mr. Campbell said, “As this was our first season, I did not exactly know what to expect.” Mr. Caseley agreed, saying, “We were walking into some uncharted territory and there was certainly some ‘learning on the fly’.”  

The winter track team was very successful in that all athletes made improvements throughout the season.  One athlete, Shannon Groom (Class of 2022)  said, “I enjoyed it [track] more towards the end because it did take a while to get used to things and gain confidence in myself.” She added that towards the end of the season, “my performances ended up being so much better than in the beginning.” 

Many athletes on the winter track team had no experience in running track yet ended up improving their skills daily. Tolan said, “I noticed that the kids enjoyed the season, especially with a good amount of kids having no experience running track.”  

Besides performance, one part of the team that was important was the support they gave towards each other. Nobody starts a new sport and is perfect at it, so having the support from other teammates helped give them encouragement. Marando said, “The supportive team environment is what makes track worth trying, since you can make friends easily, as well as have teammates that will push you to be the best you can be.”  

To anyone who is thinking of joining a team, track is a great option. It is all about trying new things you never have done before and believing in yourself. Groom suggested to “always believe in yourself–that you can do it–because if you think you can you will.”