Distance events appear to be a strength for the Warriors
By JIM SOUTHMAYD
EMILY HAMMOND, a senior quad-captain, returns to run the middle distance events — the 600 and 1000 meters. Hammond captured the championship in the 1000 meter run in the Div. 4 meet last February. (Donna Larsson File Photo)
WAKEFIELD — Is it a rebuilding year or a reloading year for the Warrior girls’ indoor track team?
Veteran head coach Jim Duff believes it could be the former and not the latter with the graduation of many of the distance runners from a year ago and with a host of freshman athletes out for the team.
Still there is reason for optimism since the Warriors have many of the distance runners from the four-time Middlesex League Freedom division champion cross country squad out for the indoor team. There are also several returning athletes from a team that went 4-2 overall and 4-1 in the M.L. Freedom division last winter.
“We lost the distance corps from last year, so I think we are more in a rebuilding type year,” said Duff. “We have Watertown at Harvard (University) in our season opener, so we’ll see. We may need to the input of the young freshmen on the team.”
The Warriors will be led by senior quad-captains Emily Hammond, Meghan Chapman, Gianna Tringale and Nicole Amalfitano.
Hammond and Chapman return and will run the 600 and 1000 meters. Hammond was a league all-star in cross country and was standout in indoor track a year ago. Chapman is a standout soccer player and tennis player in the fall and spring seasons.
Tringale returns and will run the 300 meter dash and Amalfitano returns to compete in the shot put.
The rest of the distance runners, who will run the mile and two mile, will include juniors Sara Custodio, Meaghan Hudson and Reilly McNamara and sophomores Jordan Stackhouse and Emily Heil. Custodio, McNamara, Stackhouse and Heil all ran cross country in the fall.
A freshman, Gillian Russell, competed in cross country in the fall and she will be joining the current corps of distance runners.
Joining Hammond and Chapman in the middle distance events are senior Kayla Geaney and sophomore Cassie Lucci. Both are returning runners.
In the 300, Sam Ross, a junior, returns to run the sprinting event. A freshman, Morgan Heggarty, also has shown promise at that distance.
In the dash, Taylor Messina, a first-year sophomore is slated to run that event.
Sarah Buckley, a returning junior, returns to compete in the hurdles and high jump. She will be joined in the hurdles by sophomores Marissa Hoffman and Maddie Shea.
Joining Amalfitano in the shot put are Isa Cusack, a junior, and Alexandra Amatucci, a freshman.
The Warriors are currently preparing for the season opener and many of the newcomers are getting acclimated to the sport. Duff is hoping that those younger runners, particularly the freshmen, will step up and contribute to Wakefield’s overall depth in the 10 events.
“The distance runners are good but we hope to develop some of the younger runners,” said Duff. “We went 4-1 (in the Freedom division) and we’ll do our best to try and repeat that. We are going to need some of the younger runners to step forward.”
Wakefield opens up the dual meet portion of the season on Tuesday night at 5 p.m. when it faces M.L. Freedom division rival Watertown in the first block of M.L. dual meets which will be run at Harvard University.
