Trumansburg boys indoor track wins sectionals

Trumansburg has traditionally been a powerhouse in the area when it comes to its track and field teams, whether it’s indoor or outdoor. That proud history continued Feb. 10 in the Section IV Indoor Track & Field Championships at Ithaca College with the boys team winning the Division II title against 16 schools.

In order for the Blue Raiders to keep up their consistent success, it takes a full team effort from the athletes to the coaches. In fact, Trumansburg has three coaches to cover every aspect of the sport. 

Julian Munoz coaches the throwers, Tim Hamilton focuses on the sprinters, jumpers, and pole vaulters, and Neil Clifford coaches the distance runners. Despite Trumansburg’s strong history in track and field, Clifford was not expecting this season’s team to win a sectional title.

“We have a pretty young team, and we had a lot of new people here who had never competed indoors before,” Clifford said. “What we thought was ultimately a rebuilding year, it kind of came as a surprise for us to win this championship. On that particular night, we had 18 personal records team-wide, so we kind of felt like we hit our stride at the right time. We don’t necessarily have any superstars on the team. We simply had a lot of people who contributed to the overall victory, so it was very much a team win in that regard.”

The closest that the Blue Raiders have to a superstar is Tyler Verrill. The senior won the 55-meter hurdles with a new personal best of 8.34 seconds and finished second in the triple jump. Not only is Verrill versatile on the track, he leads by example on it as one of the team captains.

“He knows the drill when practice starts,” Clifford said. “He assembles everybody for the warmup and we get down to business. He’s simply a very focused young man. He’s energetic, approaches everything with a pretty happy-go-lucky attitude, and he started from the bottom as a freshman, too. He represents the future of what a lot of our athletes could become with time, hard work and commitment.”

One of the younger athletes who stood out at sectionals is Quinn Van Valen. The sophomore finished second in the pole vault. He’s already caught the eye of his coaches and teammates, with Clifford describing him as the “quintessential T-burg athlete.”

“He is very much devoted to mastering the technique of pole vault,” Clifford said. “Of all the sports, I think it’s probably the one that requires more than just any sort of physical acumen. It requires you to be a student of the event, and Quinn is a very willing student in that regard. He works really hard to fine-tune those technical details… He shows up to practice every day with a fantastic attitude. He’s beloved both by his teammates and his coaches, and he’s the first one to lend a helping hand in any way, shape or form.”

In terms of the other notable results on the boys side, Zayne Howley finished second in the 3,200-meter run and Nick Angulo Stevenson was runner-up in the high jump. Adam Arco (3,200-meter run) and Lucas Grove (weight throw) garnered third-place finishes.

While the girls team finished 13th at sectionals, it’s because they have a much smaller roster, with just six athletes compared to 24 on the boys team. That didn’t stop the Blue Raiders from recording five season-best performances. Mena Schlossberg finished third in the 1,500-meter racewalk, as did Evelyn Pennock in the pole vault. Sofia Shaff and Elanor Gardner finished right behind Pennock in the pole vault in fourth and fifth respectively, while Gardner also finished sixth in the 55-meter hurdles.

As the Blue Raiders turn to the state qualifiers Feb. 25 at Cornell University, Clifford reflected on what has made Trumansburg the place to be for track and field over the years.

“I think with any program [it’s] having consistency among the coaches [and] having kids who make their way through the program, from freshman year all the way to senior year,” Clifford said. “It’s not just coaches who can provide feedback and who do the coaching in our program. We have a lot of seniors who can offer those critiques to the young runners and offer encouragement and tips. That helps a lot. Track is kind of an unusual sport. There are so many different events rolled into track that require a lot of different sets of eyes and different specialties. We try to foster a culture of contribution here in Trumansburg, and I think it manifests itself at the end of the season in the form of success.”

Clifford also credited new athletic director Tiffany Beam for her active support this season, saying that she has been on top of everything with the program, including securing new pole vault bags and running vests.