South Windsor High School’s indoor track team has been excelling this season, but it’s their varsity team that truly deserves some spotlight.
In track, there are different levels of competition: some meets are open to all athletes, while others are for those who meet specific qualifying standards.
For the varsity meets, the ‘best of the best’ are ones who attend. Therefore, the top athletes in each event were asked to go to the Yale Interscholastic Track Classic, which was one of the biggest meets they had this season.
Schools from Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia were invited and asked to compete at this meet.
The South Windsor High School students who attended this meet were:
Seniors: Shawn Baidoo, Jaya Pichay, and Izabella McKenna
Junior: Mallory Mead
Sophomores: Samuel Binkowski and Racheal Matyschsyk
Freshman: Luis Lopez Casimir
“I loved that track so much it was one of my favorite tracks to run on,” sophomore Racheal Matyschsyk commented, adding that the competition was very intense.
“In my event, I thought I did a fairly good job; I got an indoor personal record (PR) with a time of 5:57,” said Matyschsyk.
At the meet, there were many highlights for the athletes. Junior Mallory Mead broke the previous girls high jump record and got a new PR.
Racheal Matyschayk achieved a PR in the mile, while Luis Lopez Casimir earned a PR in the 55-meter dash. Jaya Pichay who competed in both the 300 and 55 meter dash semi-finals, set personal records in both events.
“I enjoyed the opportunity of competing against new schools from different states. I am happy with how I performed last weekend, setting new personal records in both the 55 meter dash and 300,” said Pichary.
Some athletes didn’t PR, but did well at the meet. Senior Shawn Baidoo made it to the 55-meter dash semi-finals; Sam Binkowski completed in Shot Put, and Izabella McKenna competed in the 55 meter hurdles prelims.
Many of the athletes stated that competing at the meet was a great experience overall.
“I think competing in a new environment really helped me improve and will prepare me for the upcoming meets/states,” Pichay commented.
The Prowl wishes all the athletes a good rest of their season.
