Written By Granville Elementary Special Education Teacher and Indoor Track and Field Head Coach, Ms. Brianna DiPresso
Some may call our favorite sport Indoor Track and Field, but we like to refer to it as Winter Track and Field. The 2024-2025 season can't be talked about without mentioning the weather. No matter how cold, our team was ready to practice and put in the work that later paid off throughout the season.
Helping to lead the team this season were our three captains Carter Powell, Tim Pratt and Evan Norton. They did an amazing job role modeling expectations at practice and meets including encouraging their teammates to keep getting better and making improvement. All three of them are seniors and will be surely missed next year.
In the first meet of the season in December, we started the season off strong with Tim Pratt hitting the State Quals time in the 55 meter high hurdles and hitting the qualifying high for high jump. At this first meet we also had several new personal bests for a variety of athletes on the team. One week later, at our second meet, Carter Powell hit the qualifying time for the 1000 meter for State Quals.
We continued on with our regular season meets, with a few fun practices in between. A winter track tradition is having our holiday practice right before break. This consists of a not-so-typical relay race with the winning prize of bragging rights for the rest of the practice.
December 2024 Winter Track Holiday Practice on a Snowy Track
Rolling into the middle of January is where the season started to heat up (with excitement, rather than temperatures).
The team took a day trip out to Utica to compete at their incredible facility. Out of our 21 athletes, 15 athletes were asked to compete at this meet. While at this meet, our boys 4x200 team hit the State Quals standard, and competed in weight throw for the first time this season.
January 2025 Utica University Meet
Two weeks later, the team went to our first ever overnight track meet at St. Lawrence University. Only 12 were selected to compete at this meet and they did not disappoint. Evan Norton placed 7th in the shot put. The boys 4x200 team (Jack Best, Ryan Shaw, Noah Teer, Matt Ruigrok) placed 6th. There were several other personal bests earned that day.
Evan Norton Placed 7th at the St. Lawrence University Meet, January 2025
Boys 4x200 team left to right: Matt Ruigrok, Noah Teer, Ryan Shaw, and Jack Best Placed 6th at the St. Lawrence University Meet
On the first weekend of February, we headed to the CBA's indoor track for our League Championship Meet. There were a lot of great performances at this meet from our crew.
February 2025 Championship Meet
On the girls side, Cali Powell placed 4th in the 55m hurdles, Caroline Baker placed 4th in weight throw and Lillian Baker placed 6th in weight throw.
On the boys side, the distance runners made a statement with Parker Cornwall coming in first in the 3200m run, Carter Powell placing 3rd in the 1000m, and the boys 4x800m team (Carter Powell, Brett Stewart, Noah Teer, Parker Cornwall) placing 3rd.
In the field events, Evan Norton placed 3rd in shot put and weight throw, Ryan Shaw placed 3rd in high jump, and Jack Best placed 4th in long jump.
In the sprinting events, the boys 4x200 team (Jack Best, Ryan Shaw, Noah Teer, Matt Ruigrok) placed 3rd. The 4x400 team (Noah Teer, Matt Ruigrok, Ryan Shaw and Parker Cornwall) placed 4th. In the 55m sprint, Evan Norton placed 6th and in the 55m high hurdles Matt Ruigrok placed 4th.
From left to right: High School Social Studies Teacher and Assistant Track Coach Mr. Tewksbury with Lillian Baker, Evan Norton, Caroline Baker track students and Head Coach Ms. DiPresso
Student Tim Pratt Gets Ready to Compete
Prior to Tim Pratt ending his season early due to an injury, he was able to break the indoor 55m high hurdles school record with a time of 8.44! Tim has been an essential athlete and teammate to our team and we can't wait to see what he will accomplish in the spring.
With only 2 meets left in the season, 10 athletes were off to our Division 4 Sectionals Meet. The team continued to crush it, leaving with some patches and ribbons. Carter Powell ran (what some may call his favorite event from indoor this season) the 1000m and placed 4th. Parker Cornwall ran the 3200m which is an event that he grew to love throughout the season, placing 2nd with a fight to the finish line. Our boys 4x200 squad placed 4th. Jack Best placed 3rd in long jump and 5th in triple jump. On the girls side, Cali Powell placed 5th in the 55m hurdles and Caroline Baker placed 4th in weight throw.
The season ended with 5 boys heading to State Quals: Carter Powell in the 1000m, and the boys 4x200 team which consisted of Jack Best, Ryan Shaw, Noah Teer, and Matt Ruigrok.
Looking back on the season, every person on the team earned a personal best in at least one of their events they competed in.
Our team had a great deal of success on the track, but also didn't disappoint within the classroom. Out of our 21 athletes, eleven received a cumulative GPA of 90.0 or higher, resulting in an average GPA for those scholar-athletes of 98.81. These scholar-athletes consisted of Carter Powell, Matt Ruigrok, Cali Powell, Parker Cornwall, Jack Best, Payton Bashaw, Caroline Baker, Brett Stewart, Chase Oakman, Cammi Dekalb, and Alex Rozell. Looking at all 21 athletes on the team, the overall team average was a GPA of 85.99.
Winter Track Scholar-Athletes Who Competed at the Varsity Level and Maintained a 90 Grade Point Average or Higher. Pictured Left to right: Cali Powell, Parker Cornwall, Carter Powell, Matt Ruigrok, Jack Best, Caroline Baker, Alex Rozell, Chase Oakman and Evan Norton.
The team is back to work with the kick off day of Spring Track and Field on March 17th. I have a feeling that great things are going to happen this upcoming spring!
Resources
Join the Track Team - The track team welcomes new participants for the winter and spring season. (Winter track keeps gets you fit and ready for any spring sport!) Reach out to Mr. Tewksbury in Room 215 in the high school or Ms. DiPresso at GES for more information.
Granville CSD Sports - Here is the link to our Granville CSD Athletics page with a list of seasonal sports offered in grades 7-12, in addition to contact information for K-6 Youth Sport Community Programs.
Meet Schedule - Attend one of the upcoming meets at Granville Jr/Sr High this season and come cheer on our team. These are family-friendly events for all Granville CSD families and the local community and often includes a delicious concession stand to grab a bite while watching the races. Here is the link to the latest game schedule.