Sports

Six School Records Broken

Izabella McKenna, Staff Writer • March 25, 2025

Girls lined up ready in the set position awaiting the gun to go off.

Although the indoor track season has ended, several athletes delivered standout performances, including six who set new school records. The records span events from the Sprint Medley Relay (SMR) to field events like shot put.

Record Holders

Baidoo posing with his medal after placing in long jump during States. (Coach David Hodge)

Shawn Baidoo

Senior Shawn Baidoo capped off his final indoor season at South Windsor High School by breaking two school records. He surpassed his own mark in the long jump and set a new record in the 300-meter dash, breaking a 17-year-old record from 2008.

Baidoo started track because he wanted to “be faster for football.” However, he soon grew to love the sport and now he “plans to run and jump in college,” but he remains uncommitted to a school at this time.

For him, breaking the record signified that he was “getting somewhere.” With breaking the records, he said that when his coaches David Hodge and Peter Anthony told him he broke the records he felt, “[very] happy.”

Baidoo said that his biggest motivation are his “teachers, coaches, and [his] family,” whose support and encouragement mean a lot to him when it comes to achieving great things in the track and field world.

Moving forward, Baidoo hopes to get his “name out there for track,” whether it’s through breaking more high school records during his outdoor season or through his college career.

Baidoo recently competed in the New Balance Nationals in Boston on March 15th.

Pichay starting off strong by bursting out of her starting position. (Jaya Pichay)

Jaya Pichay

Jaya Pichay, a Senior at South Windsor High School, managed to break the record for the Sprint Medley Relay, known amongst the athletes as the SMR.

Pichay started track her sophomore year. She initially “decided to try out track because it interested me,” and from that moment on she became really passionate about the sport.

Pichay is always aiming to “set new personal records each race.” For her, even improving by “fractions of a second" is really fulfilling. With this upcoming season, Pichay hopes to improve her dash times as well as placing well in states. She hopes to “make state opens or New Balance Nationals.”

In the near future, after her high school career, Pichay plans on “[continuing] the sport and [she has] offers from a few colleges.” However, for the moment Pichay remains uncommitted.

With this being Pichay’s senior year the weight of breaking the record was a lot more than it would have been for underclassmen. For Pichay breaking the record was “gratifying,” and it meant even more as it was something she had always wanted to do.

Heading into the meet Pichay knew what they were aiming for. Directly after breaking the record, Pichay said that her and her team were all, “[really] happy to realize that we achieved our goal.”

Mead posing with her medal and new Yale Invitational merch. (Mallory Mead)

Mallory Mead

Mallory Mead, a Junior at South Windsor High School, broke the record for High Jump. Mead managed to jump five feet two inches, two inches above the previous record broken in 2010.

Mead joined track in middle school and has competed throughout her high school career. She recalls being excited by all the events early on, which fueled her passion for the sport and her continued participation.

Ever since joining in middle school, her parents and close friends have been her biggest supporters. As well, her coaches, David Hodge, Peter Anthony and Bowman, believed in her capability of breaking records.

When Mead originally joined the indoor track team in freshman year, she noticed the records in the Hall of Achievements. Mead told everyone that she was going “to break both the indoor and outdoor records by the end of [her] high school career.”

Tryouts for the Girls outdoor track team starts March 24 and Mead is excited to begin the season. She plans “to break the current record of 5'4,” setting her as a two time record breaker.

On January 11th at the Yale Invitational, Mead broke the record though she “initially [believed] that [she] had tied the record”. The moment after clearing 5’2”, Mead leaped off the mat and saw her community cheering for her.

As a junior in high school, Mead has begun to plan her future in college. She plans to get a degree in exercise science followed by a doctorate in physical therapy. Track has impacted every aspect of Mead’s life for the better. Though she is not committed yet, Mead knows that she wants to jump in college. As junior year comes to a close, Mead plans to see what schools are willing to offer her.

Holovatska during her cross country season racing to the finish line. (Sofia Holovatska)

Sofia Holovatska

Sofia Holovatska, a Junior at South Windsor High School, broke the school record for the SMR along with her teammates: Jaya Pichay, Kiran Thaker, and Zoe Bailey.

Holovatska began running track in middle school. Throughout her elementary and middle school years she wasn’t, “really involved in any sports besides a little bit of tennis,” but was interested in continuing to be in the sports community. Wanting to continue this she joined cross country and eventually she joined track as well.

What keeps Holovatska going to achieve her goals is the “allure of discovering my full potential.” With a hard cross country season her sophomore year she lost her confidence in the sport. However, “something in me decided to keep going, and through hard work, consistency and dedication. I've proven myself wrong and improved so much as an athlete,” seeing all of her hard work pay off really improved her confidence overall.

Currently Holovatska aims to run “a 5 minute” 1600 meter (1 mile) run and a “2 [minute] 15 [second]” 800 meter run as well during her upcoming outdoor track season. Holovatska aims to “reach the State Open as well.”

Running at the collegiate (college) level is a big deal, however, Holovatska is unsure about continuing onto that level as she has not found, “the right school that accommodates and balances my academic, athletic and social needs and desires.”

Breaking the record meant so much to her team in different ways. For Holovatska it gave her “confidence and validation that the outdoor track season is going to be really successful and, hopefully, involve even more records broken!” It also makes how far she has come even more significant for her.

“After I finished racing, the relay team walked over to our coaches, where they told us we had broken the school records,” said Holovatska. Her and teammates were all extremely excited.

With last remarks Holovatska said, “It's fun to be able to say that you broke a school record.”

Thaker taking a perfect hand off from teammate Zoe Bailey. (David Hodge)

Kiran Thaker

Kiran Thaker, a Freshman at South Windsor High School, broke the school record for the SMR along with the rest of her relay team. The record was previously set 12 years ago in 2013. As a Freshman this is a huge accomplishment for her.

Thaker’s motivation for track is knowing the “feeling at the end of the race when you get a personal record (PR),” because to her it shows how all the hard work and effort was worth it.

Going forward with her track career, Thaker hopes to “continuously PR and push [herself] to be as fast as [she] can be.” She hopes to make it to the bigger, more important meets like the “New Englands as [she] gets older.”

Although Thaker is only a Freshman she already is “planning on running track in college,” because she has such an intense love for the sport as well as bonding with teammates and training alongside them.

Breaking the record made Thaker extremely happy. She said, “it was really nice to know that as a freshman I was able to achieve this and hope that I can keep breaking records.” Thaker hopes to break records in her individual events.

Thaker watched as the last leg in her relay crossed the finish line. Looking on the big screen, “[I] saw that [my relay team] broke the record.” The team went into the meet hoping to break the school record and they did just that. To add a cherry on top to the already great accomplishment, the team “found out [they] medaled which made it even better.”

Bailey posing with her Shot Put after an amazing throw. (Zoe Bailey)

Zoe Bailey

Zoe Bailey, a Freshman at South Windsor High School broke two school records. Bailey during her first year of high school track managed to attain the SMR and Shot Put records.

The reason Bailey joined track was because she was always told that “[she] was fast growing up,” so for Bailey it was a no-brainer to join in middle school and then continue that sports career into high school as well.

Bailey’s motivation for track is her desire to “go pro and get into a great school for track.” To achieve this goal Bailey pushes herself to “always do better than my last meet because [she] knows in the end [she’ll] get where [she wants] if [she] works for it.”

Although Bailey is only a freshman she would like to go to college for the sport. Bailey is currently, “unsure what school but [she will] definitely want to go for track,” she does know that she has another 3 years before she must make that decision.

“Breaking the SMR and Shot Put records [meant] a lot to me,” said Bailey. The original Shot Put record was 30 ft 11.5 inches set in 1990, 35 years prior in which was smashed by Bailey who threw 31 feet and 7.25 inches. “It was my goal from the start of the season after throwing 29 '7 to break that record, [which] I did. It made me very happy because I put so much work into it.”

The SMR record meant a lot to Bailey as well because she wasn’t very focused on running this season so breaking that record made Bailey realize that she “[needed] to focus on both [running and throwing] because I can get to [great lengths with both].”

When breaking both the records Bailey was very shocked and happy because she never imagined that it could have happened. Bailey loves track and plans on continuing to push herself to be the best she can be.

About the Contributor

Izabella McKenna, Staff Writer

Izabella Mckenna is a South Windsor High School senior and excited to continue her 4th year as a writer for The Bobcat Prowl. Izabella hopes to inspire people to be who they want to be regardless of what others think. She is a tri-sport athlete playing Football, Indoor Track, and Outdoor Track. After high school she plans on following her family’s footsteps by joining the service. She is joining the AirForce. She loves listening to Indie, 90s pop and rap, and Latin/Reggaeton. She plans on going into a law enforcement career when she is older.