Freshman Picking Up The Pace
NEIRAD enilno edition
The Darien track team has gained a ton of fresh frosh talent this year. With a lot of senior stars leaving at the end of last season, Darien needed strong replacements. That need has been fulfilled with a talented freshman squad: the talent pool is growing even bigger in 2008. Darien needs these freshmen to become talented runners in the next two years if they are going to continue the winning ways.
The boy’s team will lose seniors Tim Nelson and captains Logan Hohs, Nick Phillips and Doug Wright. “It’s tough to be leaving this year, but we hope that the underclassmen will be able to fill our shoes one day,” Wright said. Fortunately, some of the freshmen are extending their stride to try to join the best at DHS.
Leading the group is John Conley. He joined the team during the indoor season. John is a distance runner. He has been training rigorously for the 1000-meter event. Currently, John is running a 2:57 in the 1000. He recently qualified for FCIAC’s in this event. Sophomore Brandon Tripodi says, “We all have a lot of hope for John. We know that if he keeps trying the same amount of effort that he has all season, then it will pay off and he will be making the headlines in a year or two.”
Another boy’s team standout is sprinter, Peter “Swiss” McDonough. Peter joined the track team during the indoor season. “I think our success is due to the good coaches and we work really hard every practice,” McDonough said.
Fellow freshmen sprinter, Joe Simonson says there is another secret to Swiss’s success. “The real reason Swiss is so fast is because of his height. He is really tall. He also trains really hard everyday.” When asked whether he or Swiss could possibly fill the shoes of Kevin Knapp or Nick Phillips, Simonson replied, “Hopefully! We plan on running track all throughout high school.” Both Swiss and Joe run in the 45-meter dash, 300 meter, and in the 245-meter relay. They are trying very hard to qualify for FCIAC this year.
The girl’s team will be losing seniors Rebecca Dobler, Sarah Bauer, Kim Davis, Lindsay Lyons, Kimberly Russell and Evelyn Cordner, each one playing a key role on the team. Fortunately, there was a turnout of 140 girls at the beginning of the indoor season this year. Yet, about 100 or so quit. Currently, there are around 30 to 40 freshman on the team. It is truly the “survival of the fittest.”
The fastest freshman sprinter on the girl’s team is Alex Iqbal. According to freshman Amanda Dobler, “Alex trains a lot with Grace Doering, Meg Gilbert, and Kim Davis. She runs hard and you can tell it pays off.” She has qualified for states in the 55-meter dash running a blazing 7.8 seconds. Also, Alex has qualified for states in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 10.0 seconds. Alex is also extremely good at the longer sprints. She qualified for states in the 300-meter race with a time of 46.1 seconds.
The distance crew gained two fast freshmen as well. Tricia Vossler and Amanda Dobler are two of the most talented runners. They both landed spots on the varsity cross country squad last fall.
“This is my first year in a formal track program,” Vossler said. “I’m having a lot of fun because I get to experience competition on a different level – it makes me want to work harder and run faster.”
This indoor season both these freshmen rising stars are focusing on the 1000-meter race. Vossler and Dobler both qualified for FCIACs: Dobler finished with a time of 3:33.0 and Vossler finished at 3:35.7. They are eager to qualify for states at the next meet in Yale, the last developmental meet of the season.
Both the boy’s and the girl’s track teams have a lot of talent in the freshmen class. The pace is picking up now. These young athletes are entering an extremely competitive environment. Now, it is up to them to step it up.
