Dryden indoor track & field speeds through competition

As the regular season continues to wind down, the Dryden indoor track and field teams are heating up at the right time.

The majority of the Lions’ success has come from the girls team, in part due to having a larger roster with 12 athletes compared to just five on the boys team. Their crowning achievement so far was a first-place finish out of the IAC teams at the Quinney Invite on January 13 at SUNY Cortland. Up until then, the Lions put up multiple top-five finishes but had yet to win a meet. Head coach Karen Weaver attributed their victory to two key factors.

“We had a full roster of 12 girls there, and we had a lot of personal bests that day,” Weaver said. “When you get together all the schools with that high quality of competition, the girls just rose to the occasion and did their best.”

The Lions have racked up plenty of success despite a lot of turnover on both teams. The girls team graduated four athletes and added eight, while the boys team lost nine athletes from last season and added four. Some of the newcomers have prior experience in outdoor track and field, but the transition to indoor track is not as easy as it seems.

“I always say it’s just a different beast,” Weaver said. “Some of the events are the same as outdoor (like the 1,500-meter run, it’s just different when you’re running on that 200-meter track compared to the 400-meter track. I think it’s just a matter of the kids getting used to the environment that they’re running in and just making that adjustment.”

For the girls team, one athlete who has made a seamless transition to the indoor season is Reagan Burnham. The freshman made a name for herself last spring during the outdoor season by winning IAC and sectional titles in the 3,000-meter run. She’s carried over that success indoors, where she’s won multiple long-distance events.

“She’s kind of picking up right where she left off from the outdoor season and just getting used to the 200-meter track, especially for those long-distance events,” Weaver said. “We’re trying to focus in on the 1,000-meter and 1,500-meter runs for her for the season to see how far she can really go with those events.”

In terms of the returning athletes, Raelen Green has impressed in the long jump, winning the event twice so far. Green takes the mantle as the Lions’ lead long jumper from Carlea Davis, who is now on the Binghamton University track team. Green certainly learned a lot from her and is one of many athletes on the Lions who’s dedicated to improving their craft.

“My kids always help one another at the skill drills,” Weaver said. “A lot of times, they will look at videos and they’ll take videos of themselves in practice and critique. I can critique them verbally all I want, but they sometimes will get more out of it by seeing themselves do the skills that we’re doing.”

Other athletes who have excelled both in individual and relay events include sophomore Jade Brockner, junior Nicole Morrow, and senior Mckenna Crocker. Morrow and Crocker were also standouts in the fall on the soccer team, and their high fitness levels have paid off on the track.

“I always tell kids to do a sport,” Weaver said. “You don’t have to do cross country, indoor and outdoor, and sometimes I like kids to do another sport so you know you’re not just working the same muscle over and over the same way. For soccer, I know [head coach] Janine Bennett has the kids in shape, so these girls definitely came to indoor track in shape for me.”

As for the boys team, they’re not expected to win many events as a whole due to a small roster. But that doesn’t mean they lack talent—far from it. The standouts for the Lions are senior Ethan Gibbs, whose main focus is on the 55-meter hurdles, and junior Suansian Songput, who has done well in the long jump and triple jump.

“Ethan’s a senior, so the seniors know this is their last go-around,” Weaver said. “They are very focused and they definitely want to get to the next level. Ethan has been to the state meet for the outdoor season, not as an individual but on a relay [team]. You just give that taste to some kids going to a state track meet and they know what the competition is, and they are striving to get there, so he works very hard at his hurdles.”

Weaver continued: “Suansian has been a pretty consistent jumper for me this season. He’s another one who gets his phone out and he wants to be recorded and just make those little adjustments to be the best that he can.”

Like in years past, expect more great things to come from the Dryden indoor track teams as the postseason nears.