By Jack Hooker
After finishing their season 4-1, several members of the boys’ indoor track team are preparing for the DCL Championships with a chance to move on to states. While the boys have appreciated their early success, this perennially competitive squad hopes to continue competing for as long as possible.
Senior captain Marini Lopci, who runs the 3000-meter, likes this year’s team.
“The season is going very well for us so far,” Lopci said. “We have several top of the state runners who dominate in their respective events.”
South has a plethora of competitive runners: seniors Ray Park and Tyrone Thorton in the 55-meter dash, senior Jung Park in the 55-meter hurdles, Lopci in the 300-meter, senior captain Joe Hickey in the 600-meter, junior Omri Cohen and senior captain Keegan Stricker in the 1000-meter, junior Thomas Stephans in the mile, junior Allen Shiu in the two-mile, and junior Ryan Kim in the shot put.
The track team’s success has not come without adversity, though. Injuries, the loss of seniors from the previous season, and the loss of last year’s dedicated field events coach all threatened to derail the team, but they have overcome these difficulties to become one of the best squads in the DCL.
Still, South faces challenges as it moves later into the season.
“Our biggest weakness is that we don’t have enough depth in events,” Lopci said. “We can usually win first in an event from those top level athletes, but the rest of the points go to the other teams because we really don’t have more than one standout per event.”
The team has improved significantly from the beginning of the season, and the athletes hope to continue this upward trend in the postseason.
Junior Ryan Kim was able to beat his personal record this season in the shot put with a 55’ 1.5’’ hurl, but he is working to break this mark as well. “I am am hoping to throw 60 feet at nationals,” Kim said.
Junior Omri Cohen also emerged as a strong long distance runner for the Lions. “This season I played a much larger role for the team,” Cohen said. “I became one of the better runners, contributing points for the team and qualifying for states for the first time.”
Senior Jung Park was able to break the DCL record this season for 55-meter hurdles and qualified for the National Championships in New York.
“This season was really good for me because I initially came into the season thinking just to run a personal record, and my reach goal was to break the school record for the hurdles,” Park said. “It was just so exciting and unbelievable when I broke both the school and DCL record. I’m still in shock because of how well my season is going this year.”
The DCL Championships have been rescheduled due to the recent blizzard but will likely take place within the week. Currently, states are set to take place Feb. 17, followed by all-states on Feb. 24, New Englands on March 3, and the National Championships on the weekend of March 10.
Compared to last year, there will be more schools competing in the state tournament this year, meaning that teams now need fewer points to be victorious. South hopes that this change will benefit them going forward as they work to prolong their successful season.
“A team only needs a few first place finishes to win overall,” Lopci said. “I think that we have that talent in our top guys.”
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