Regional meets canceled, no team scores kept, but athletes able to race
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY – The short high school winter track season ended Friday afternoon at Carey Stadium in Ocean City. It was almost indistinguishable from a spring track meet.
There was beautiful warm weather and sunshine, sprinters and hurdlers, distance runners and relay races and field events.
It was nothing like former winter track meets featuring a few dozen teams and hundreds of athletes packed into the indoor tracks at The Bubble in Toms River or The Armory in New York.
The Ocean City High School boys and girls coaches agreed that although radically different from winter track seasons in the past, this one was good for the athletes and something they may like to continue once the COVID-19 pandemic has passed.
With girls coach Tim Cook and boys coach Matt Purdue overseeing their athletes at the fourth and final meet of the season, the Red Raiders were competing against peers from the Atlantic County Institute of Technology, but no one was keeping team scores.
“That was new to me, but it was good,” Cook said about the scoring. “They were essentially focusing on the times.”
“We didn’t have team scores which I thought was a good thing in the sense that in track and field you score points by filling the events,” Purdue explained. “With limitations on how many athletes you could have on a bus it would really give the home school a tremendous advantage. It’s just the way the point system works out.”
Purdue said it also takes pressure off because without team scores, coaches don’t need to put top athletes in three or four events, which might not be in their best interest in cold weather.
Competition, however, is very much alive. Officials kept times and places in the various heats.
“Track and field in its very nature is very collegial among the coaches and the athletes,” Purdue said. “You really do root for your opponents. You still want to beat them but you know the better they do the more they will push you to be successful. We had that element in the events themselves of trying to beat your opponents’ mark or time, but in a way that was not in place of wanting to see them succeed. I think that was really good.”
Cook said having the winter season was beneficial in other ways as well.
“The value of the winter track season was providing a sense of normalcy for the kids. They all enjoyed being out there and it was great to have them compete against other schools and getting back into the flow of what we do in the winter season leading into the spring season,” Cook said. “It got them ready for competition and the social aspect was major. … They got to see people they normally don’t get to see and practice with each other. The kids just love being out there, being together. I think everyone had a great time. “
He added that he and Purdue talked after the season ended and they were happy with how things turned out.
“The idea was to keep the travel short, have dual meets, less people at the meets,” Cook said. “Meets at Toms River at The Bubble generally have 20, 25 teams, where now we’re talking two teams at a time.”
“We were grateful just to have a semblance of competition and normalcy and have a schedule,” Purdue said. “Indoor track and field was always going to be a challenge because obviously tight quarters and a lot of athletes inside small spaces. That wasn’t really something that was going to work out this year. I think it was a good alternative for us to have outdoor meets and stay local and not have to travel.”
He and Purdue said at the major meets, teams are able to put only three athletes into each event because there are so many teams. With the dual meets, and no worry about team scores, they can put far more of their athletes into events, sometimes seven or nine.
“The kids all got to compete more which was great,” Cook said. “I personally thought it was a good approach to the winter track season.”
It also eases the transition into the spring season.
“For seniors, it was good for their sense of normalcy. It was a nice intro into the spring season, especially with missing last season,” Cook said, citing four-year runners including Alexa Palmieri, Aila Troxel, Erin Hanlon and Morgan Krier. All spring sports were canceled last year because of COVID-19 restrictions. “It’s been a while since they competed on an outdoor track. In cross country they finish on the track but are mostly running on the beach and boardwalk. They haven’t had an official at the start line, ready, set go, on the track. It is nice for them to have that experience again.”
Purdue said it helped that the weather was nice for all four of the home meets. (One meet was scheduled at Atlantic City, but the team agreed to come to Ocean City.)
“We also were really, really lucky we had four really nice days. We learned that the best way to schedule winter track is we’re going to have a meet this week and on Sunday we’ll pick a day with the most favorable weather,” Purdue said. “This is something I really hope continues in the future because it was a silver lining that we learned this type of meet could work, supplement the schedule and get our younger athletes to compete as well.”
The late start to winter track coincides perfectly with spring track.
“Everything is pushed back in the calendar year,” Purdue said. “It’s a direct transition right into spring track.” Often the winter track teams finish their competition season in early February and won’t be competing again until early April. “We’re allowed to practice through the end of March with winter track and that transitions right into spring track on April 1. We’re hoping training wise, particularly for some of our winter athletes, that it works well and they continue to make progress.”
The coach said without team scores, his boys are still doing well.
“Our measure of success has been personal bests or personal records,” he said. “Across the board I think almost every athlete on the winter roster achieved a PR. That was our goal.”
He is looking forward to spring, but is not sure who is going to step up to fill a lot of shoes.
He said some of his big point scorers are coming back, including Tyler Greene, Owen Ritti and Dan Givens, but the deepest lineup with the most seniors was in 2020 … when the season was canceled.
Since they didn’t get to compete, Purdue said, “We’re in an usual circumstance in that we’re not sure who is going to step up but we’re confident younger talent will fill those shoes.” He also expects Ritti, Greene and Givens to pick up where they left off last year.
Cook said the Red Raiders are trying to finalize their schedule now.
“Everyone is excited to have nice weather and compete for the division and at the South Jersey and state meet. All the goals we normally have,” Cook said. “Everyone is amped up, especially the seniors, because they know this is their last run so they’re looking forward to working hard and seeing what happens.”