Girls’ Track Remains United Despite Cancellations

Because of rising concerns of the coronavirus, an incredible season from the girls’ track team was cut short following the cancellation of their trip to the national tournament in New York. The girls’ team was sending a relay team for the 4×800, whose members included Annie Jackon (I), Lucy Abdow (II), Samantha Everett (II) and Sophie Ahearn (III). This event was supposed to take place on March 14, with the athletes’ qualification for this tournament serving as an emblem of their hard work. Emma Walsh (IV) and Rebecca Hein (IV) also earned spots to run a separate event, the mile, which was scheduled to be held on March 15. 

The team knew they qualified for Nationals at New Englands, which was scheduled for two weeks before the national tournament. Despite the crushing blow of having the national tournament canceled, Everett still fondly reminisces on the season and her teammates’ accomplishments. “Overall, the track season was pretty good. We were placing well at major meets and we were scheduled to go to Nationals but the meet was canceled. This was my first year so I’ve only been running with them for two seasons but they’ve all been together a couple of years. The 4×800 team came in fourth at the state championships and fourth at New England Championships.”

When asked about how Everett and the team prepared for Nationals, she said that the team wanted to stick with the same recipe as they have all year. “To prepare we just kept doing what we had been doing for the rest of the season so we were running every day or doing workouts.” Their rigorous training regimen enabled them to sprint to the nationally competitive level. 

Jackson, another one of our school’s most impressive athletes who recently committed to Dartmouth College for track, was also ready to lead the team to Nationals. She had previously taken multiple trips to Nationals, and can definitely feel the frustration that her team shares over the cancellation of this event. She is devastated to discover that her senior season is potentially over, along with experiencing the terrible shock of losing the chance for her and her team to redeem their training on the national stage.

While conversing with Jackson about the coronavirus cancellation situation, she remains very positive, describing this difficult matter as one that stresses the importance of protecting the long-term well-being of Americans over anything else that could compromise it. Jackson said with hope, “It’s stressful right now with all of the uncertainty that the future holds, and thinking about the chance of not having one last season of high school track breaks my heart. However, we are remaining hopeful and counting down the minutes until we can toe the line again.”