Dryden begins season with new coach

The indoor track and field season is underway in Section IV after it was canceled last year. For the Dryden Lions, it’s the first indoor season in three decades without Lee Stuttle leading as the head coach. Instead, it will be his sister, Karen Weaver, stepping into the role after 22 years of working alongside him.

Weaver was the head coach during the shortened outdoor track season earlier this year, but this will be her first full season in the position. She talked about taking over for Stuttle after his lengthy tenure.

“It’s definitely big shoes to fill,” Weaver said. “I think [the outdoor season] was a smooth transition. The kids went right with it whether I was at the helm or Lee was at the helm. I’ve been with him for 22 years, so it wasn’t like I was a new face to the program here in Dryden.”

At a technical level, Weaver learned how to coach the different groups of a track and field team from Stuttle. Beyond that, there was much more she learned from her time alongside him.

“I’ve learned a lot from him — how to manage a team, manage kids, manage parents, how to come up with different workouts that I’ve learned from him, and also, you’re here for the kids and to always give my best so that the kids can perform at their highest level,” Weaver said.

As for the season currently taking place, Dryden got things started Dec. 4 at the Snowman Showdown in SUNY Cortland against 11 other schools, including Class AA Binghamton and Horseheads. The Lions had an impressive showing, taking home wins in eight of the 28 events. If Weaver had not put the meet on the team’s schedule, the preseason would have stretched to Dec. 18.

While the Lions were able to take home wins in several events, the roster is fairly small on both the boys’ and girls’ sides. There are 13 boys on the team this year and nine girls. Weaver understands there may be limitations on the team’s success when it comes to the postseason due to the lack of depth, but she’s ready for a fulfilling season.

“I want them to do their best,” Weaver said. “We have some brand-new kids to the track program, and they haven’t done the outdoor program either. We’re trying to find a perfect fit for them. And it’s kind of tough for indoor compared to outdoor since most meets we can only put two people in an event. We’re just trying to give some of these rookies a chance to prove themselves without taking something away from the kids that belong in a certain event.”

One athlete who has stood out so far is Bryant DePaull. After playing basketball last school year due to the absence of winter track, the senior is off and running, winning three events at the Snowman Showdown including a 6-foot-2 high jump.

“[DePaull] definitely has grown up over the years,” Weaver said. “I usually see kids who get serious about track in about 10th grade or 11th grade, and I think when they do earn some of that success, whether it be their performance, or you go to the class meet or state qualifier meet and you’re coming up in the top three, they start to realize how good they are. You could just tell that this year he’s definitely focusing in on everything. It’s nice to see him grow up like that.”

The girls notched a few wins at the Snowman Showdown even without Hollace Finver, one of the team’s top performers. While there is a decent amount of youth on the team, there’s notable track experience.

“They’re a very hard-working team,” Weaver said. “Most of them have done either indoor or outdoor, or a combination of both, so it’s not really new to them. I tell everyone indoor track is just a different beast even if you’ve done outdoor three years and this is your first year doing indoor. I’m looking forward to, as the season goes on with them, for them to compete even better.”

As mentioned earlier, there was no indoor track season for Section IV teams outside of Trumansburg. Weaver believes the shortened outdoor season helped get the athletes back on track a few months ago, leading to very good performances at the season-opener nearly two weeks ago.

“Having the outdoor season definitely has helped, and I just think the kids just missed it overall,” Weaver said. “It’s a long season. We’re just kind of picking up where we left off from the outdoor season. Most of the kids were on my outdoor season [team], and some of them even have gotten their [personal records] from track at that first meet. So, that makes me very happy.”

Dryden will be heading back to SUNY Cortland on Saturday for the large 607 Invitational meet. Weaver hopes to continue the team’s upward trajectory in her second indoor event as Dryden’s track and field coach.

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