Norwood Girls Track in for the Distance

Over the past few seasons, Norwood has not had all that many girls tryout for the track team, making it difficult to go up against some of the bigger schools in the Bay State League (BSL). When the school season got under way back in September, the Mustangs had left the BSL behind and joined the Tri Valley League (TVL), a group of schools more their size. In addition to the new league, Norwood had more girls come out for the team than they can remember.
“We’ve had the most amount of girls (47) come out for the team in recent years,” Norwood girls track Coach and Athletic Director Jon Longley said. “We are excited about the high participation, including the 16 freshman.”
Of the 47 athletes to grace the Norwood roster this spring, Longley will only have nine seniors taking part in events for the Mustangs, which bodes well for the team’s track future.
Those seniors include, Tegan Bartlett (400), Lily Cronin (hurdles), Myra Hines and Catherine Hurley, who were both indoor track captains. Also returning to track after taking the winter off to swim will be, Mikayla Jordan (400), as well as Elena Savage, Haley McDonagh, Ariana Zavala and Allison Kelleher (hurdles).
Hurley will provide the Mustangs points in the throwing events tossing the shotput and discus. The senior can hurl the shotput 30-plus feet and the discus in excess of 70 feet.
Carrying Norwood in the distance and sprinting events will be sophomore Olivia Beaudet and Sawdah McCloud. Beaudet will run the mile and two mile for the Mustangs. The sophomore has already been named a TVL All Star during the cross country and winter track seasons.
“Olivia is coming off a great indoor track season where she was fourth at the TVL Meet in the mile,” Longley said. “She has established herself as a top tier female distance runner and will continue to grow.”
While Beaudet will handle the long distances, McCloud will take control of the sprint events. She finished fifth in the 55 meter dash and was named Norwood’s MVP scoring the most points on the team.
“Sawdah will run the 100, 200 and be part of our 4 x 100 relay team,” the coach said. “She is also the team’s best high jumper and will score a lot of points for us in her many events.”
In addition to the seniors, Longley will be looking for the junior trio of Alison Giambanco (400 and jumper), Paige Whitcomb (sprinter), and Tara O’Brien (sprinter), to score some points in their respective events.
Incoming freshman Marion Pastore and Caroline Galvin have impressed the coach in the early stages.
“Marion had herself a great winter and excels in sprinting and jumping,” Longley said. “I’m expecting big things from her during the spring season. Caroline is a middle distance runner who will primarily run the 800 and she has shown a lot of promise thus far.”
With less than a dozen senior athletes on the squad, Norwood will find themselves in somewhat of a learning experience this spring.
“We will be competitive this season as we do have a good core of athletes,” the Coach concluded. “With only nine seniors, that means we should have 38 girls returning as well as the incoming freshman and any newcomers next year. We are an overall young team with a lot of new athletes, so there will be a lot of learning happening.”
Despite their young age, the Norwood girls have been working extremely hard at their craft and as the season progresses, Longley should begin to see improvement in his athletes which leaves the team in great shape for the future.