It’s a cool day. The sun is high in the sky, and the temperature is just in the mid fifties. There are a few clouds in the sky, but not much of a threat of rain. At this time runners line up on the track, poised to launch as soon as the opportunity presents itself. This begins the first event of the Pomperaug track meet, the 4 x 800 relay, the first competitive event Bethel’s girls track team attends.

There were eighteen events total at this meet. Events were divided among running and field, and included jumping and throwing events.

At the end of the day, the girls track team scored lower than Pomeraug, similar to last year, but scored higher than the Oxford and Stratford teams. However, the goal was not to topple Pomperaug; the goal was simply to improve.

Overall, the girls’ track team was impressed with their results. Nicole D’Arco (’12) remarks, “As a team we did very well. About 32 people on the team improved from our maroon and white meet.”

“I feel like we did the best we could do,” states Sarah Kraver (’12) one of the team’s three captains. “There were girls who qualified for states and SWCS already, which is awesome for a first meet. However, like with any sport, there is always room for improvement and we will be even more prepared for our next meet.”

To prepare for the event, the track girls participate in a number of practices throughout the week. One of them is the maroon and whites meet, where the team is divided in half and members compete against one another. On most days, however, the team performs other rigorous exercises. “Track practices vary from day to day.” states Kraver. “We have work out days on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, on which we do more up tempo running such as hills or sprints. On the other days we go on distance runs.”

Overall, the team is optimistic about their potential for this year’s season, even with the graduation of many of the veteran runners last year. “We lost a couple of our best athletes last year,” states Coach Chris Ciparelli, who has been a coach since 2006. “But the athletes we have this year have been performing really well.”

Some of the team members remark that even though many of the best runners have graduated, the newer runners have shown great potential. “I feel this year we have the potential to be better than most years,” notes Kraver. “We have so much more young talent than we have ever had. Everyone is really working their hardest to be the best they can be and I can’t wait for the season to uphold to see what happens.”

This year the other meets the girls will be attending are in New Fairfield, Bunnel, Joel Barlow, and a home meet in early May.

Though no one knows what may come of this season, the future appears bright for Bethel High School’s Girls Outdoor Track Team. One thing is for certain, the team has a great optimism that this year the team will see improvements over previous years.