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Stuart Track's Young Athletes Unfazed As Tartans Win Prep B, Patriot Crowns
By Bill Alden
Youth has been served this spring for the Stuart Country Day track team as its freshman and sophomore performers have piled up the lion's share of points for the Tartans.
Coming into last week's state Prep B championship meet, Stuart head coach Tom Harrington feared that his more callow athletes could wilt under the pressure cooker environment they would encounter in the competition held May 3 at the Blair Academy.
"I was concerned that they could get overwhelmed by the atmosphere at the big meet," said Harrington.
"The day before, I gave them a talk. I told them one person, one event, one championship. Most of the athletes are in more than one event so I wanted them to take things one event at a time and then go on to the next one."
The wily Harrington resorted to some animal imagery to help drive home the point to his athletes. "I gave them an analogy," added Harrington with a sly laugh. "I told them it's like eating an elephant. It looks like it is such a big meal but you just need to nibble a bit and it will be gone."
The Tartans emerged as the elephant of the meet by crushing the opposition to take the title, accumulating 175 points to easily outdistance runner-up Pennington which scored 88 points.
In earning their fourth straight Prep B title, Stuart produced a slew of outstanding individual efforts. Junior Hannah Wilson placed first in both the 100-meter hurdles and 400 hurdles while classmate Brittany Kidd soared to the titles in the long jump and high jump. Senior distance standout Emily Driscoll barely missed a triple, winning the 1,600 and the 3,200 while placing second in the 800.
Sophomore throwing specialist Sarah Goodwin won both the shot put and the discus and placed third in the javelin. Freshman sprint star Carys Johnson won the 100 dash and finished third in the 200.
Johnson, for her part, acknowledged that she had plenty of butterflies coming into the championship meet. "I was really nervous," said Johnson.
"I knew that coach Harrington and coach [Robert] Abdullah would help me with their instructions. I knew I needed to just focus on each race. The adrenaline helped carry me through. Emily and the other seniors were so helpful, everybody was there cheering me on."
Harrington was cheered by his athletes' performance in the 400 hurdles, which he pointed to as epitomizing his team's stellar effort.
"Hannah Wilson was going against the defending champ from Saddle River," explained Harrington. "I told her that she was a hurdler while the other girl was really a sprinter doing the hurdles. Hannah was behind but she caught up when the other other girl slowed before one of the hurdles."
While Wilson's performance was undeniably impressive, Harrington was just as heartened by the efforts of Elizabeth Cancelosi and Caroline Cancelosi, who took third and fourth, respectively, in the race.
"They are distance runners," said Harrington, referring to the Cancelosi sisters. "I told them before the season that we needed to develop a full team and spread our talents out. I asked them to try the 400 hurdles. They did it in some early meets and said we can do this."
Harrington certainly got a can-do effort from Driscoll, who clocked a 6:41.4 time in winning the 1,600 and beat the field by more than a minute with her 12:25.8 time in the 3,200. "In the 1,600, she blew everybody away after the 600," said Harrington in assessing Driscoll's efforts.
"She was the three-time defending champ in the 3,200. She shot out and with her reputation, nobody was going to try to stay with her. She really dominated."
Kidd and Goodwin also provided Stuart with dominant efforts in their double victories. "Brittany had a great season last year as a sophomore, she learned a lot from Angela [Harrington]," added Harrington, referring to the tutelage provided by his daughter.
"She did this year what Angela did in winning the high jump and long jump. I told Sarah she was going to be the next Maya [Thompson.] I told her that we were going to triple her. She's a real quiet kid but she gives you 100 percent."
While Harrington knew early on that he had some raw talent, he is amazed the strides made by his athletes this spring. "We didn't look like a team at the beginning," said Harrington, whose team followed up its Prep B title last Saturday by cruising to its fourth straight Patriot Conference crown.
"We were trying different people at different events. We knew that we had to do a good coaching job to develop a team that could compete for a state title. We worked on developing a team concept We told them that the letters t-e-a-m stand for together each athlete matters. "
Harrington had special words of praise for his seniors. "No school has ever won four straight Prep B track titles," said Harrington, whose team piled up 155 points at the Patriot meet, well ahead of runner-up Saddle River (80 points). "I think it is a phenomenal accomplishment. I told the seniors that from orientation to graduation, you are champions."
In the view of Johnson, who set school records in the 100 (12.7) and the 200 (27.0) in winning both events at the Patriot Conference meet, the team has a phenomenal spirit.
"We're all one big happy family," asserted Johnson. "I didn't know what to expect as a freshman. The experience exceeded my expectations. Everybody was so supportive."
And the performance by Stuart's athletes in the big meets last week certainly exceeded Harrington's expectations.
