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Track and Field: “Those Things that Outlast Results”

By Mark Oftedal, Head Coach

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
By W.B. Yeats

 
Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

At the end of each high school track and field season the “All-Times List” and the “Scoring Tables” show up in coaches’ inboxes. Each year, I peruse these lists looking for changes to any of my past athletes’ rankings and possible additions to the list from the now-completed season. I was elated to learn that Jada Crockett’s 25.46 second 200-meter dash performance at the state meet landed her a spot on this year’s scoring table! By making this list, Jada is now in the running for the 2A Performance of the Year award, with a javelin throwing performance unloaded earlier in the season by Mary Degraffenreid of Millard High School. The table shows Jada’s performance in the 200-meter garnered 755 points, while Mary’s weighed in at 925.

Beside perusing these lists and tables each year, I’ve explored the deep and mysterious rabbit hole of a Google search: How is it that we can quantify Jada’s impressive 25.46 second dash with the 138-foot-10-inch flight of a javelin? I’ll not go into where I am at this point in understanding this system, nor my appreciation for the efforts of Bojidar Spiriev, a Bulgarian hydrogeological engineer and athletics statistician who made it possible for coaches to marvel at such comparisons since 1979. Nor will I try to understand why some coaches wish to use this system to determine the best.

Jada and Ezra Shilling Rabin were awarded our team’s Most Valuable award not because they landed on a list. They achieved these awards because I can see them, talk to them—feel their drive and determination for improvement—starting back in the cold, dark days of winter right through the final finish line of May. True, when I present the Most Valuable award, I talk about how many points they scored for our teams, but the award is for the most valuable—questions of what constitutes the most value, aside—not for the highest point accumulation.

I’ll admit, to begin the closure of my seasons, I revisit the results of each track meet, combing the events, and gathering each team member’s stats. However, during that gathering of results, my mind goes to the memories of that day, of that track meet and the performances of all those in green and white Rowland Hall singlets. I re-see the lean at the finish, the stretch for the jump board, the release of the javelin, and the faces and gestures expressing sometimes elation—involuntary fist pumps and jumps into the air—and sometimes disappointment—meaningful bowed heads, eyes resigned to staring at the ground. It’s these actions, these emotions, and the many, many individual dreams, not the numbers, that leave indelible marks on my mind.

With that, I’ll say the actions, emotions, and dreams of a multitude of new athletes joined our few returning team members this year, which made for lots of opportunities for learning, as the newcomers to the sport learned not only which events they wanted to focus on, but the various technical elements necessary for each event. Seniors Shayna Green and Dillon Fang—both awarded the Coaches’ Choice award for their mentorship roles over the years—were joined by fellow senior Jake Gilbert and juniors Will Cunningham and Jada Crockett as highly capable support for those learning how to set and come out of starting blocks and exchange a relay baton. Junior Annie Nash shepherded our new throwers while maintaining her own performances in the three highly technical events.

While all our new team members consistently improved in their events, ninth grader Carolina Corcoran managed an impressive first year, improving to the point of qualifying for the BYU Invitational in four individual events. Carolina, along with second-year team member and sophomore Dean Hijjawi, were clear standouts in terms of improvement this season and were therefore awarded the Most Improved Athlete award. And again, a ninth grader, Grant Downes, and a sophomore, Neha Dixit, shared the Tough as Nails award for their obvious enthusiasm for the sport of track and field. Neha joyously tried her legs in the sprints and the middle-distance races, while also remaining focused throughout the season on the shot put. In Grant’s case, he consistently—with vigor and unmistakable willingness—took on new challenges in a mature and focused manner. With a save-the-day, eleventh-hour acceptance to compete for our team’s state-qualifying 4x100 relay team, he secured the chance for the team’s two seniors to end their high school careers in the event they specialized in.

Indeed, the stats of a season, in inches, feet, meters, wind speeds, placings, and rankings on every level—event, team, region, state, nation—can be tallied to tell a story. Even a long-lasting and carefully tended and evolving point system awards a possible four-digit point total which will compare your best race of the year with someone’s best pole vault height. But in the end, it’s the hours, days, weeks, months into years spent with our athletes—working with these people in our lives that love to run, jump, throw, and dream—that matters. These can’t be sent to anyone’s inbox.

Thank you to coaches Roland Tolbert, Ashley Hagensick, Jake Colangelo, and Sam Duffy for your inspirational talents and knowledge shared with our team members this season. Thank you to the parents of our students, who know better than I the dreams of your children. And lastly, thank you, team members, for allowing us to grow and learn with you, as we watch, encourage, and share in the moment your training and performances.

2022 Rowland Hall Track & Field

  • Seniors: Dillon Fang, Jake Gilbert, Shayna Green
  • Juniors: Eli Borgenicht, Jada Crockett, Will Cunningham, Evan Jahn, Annie Nash, Ezra Shilling Rabin
  • Sophomores: Neha Dixit, Dean Hijjawi, Isabelle Jiang
  • Freshmen: Tessa Bartlett, Carolina Corcoran, Grant Downes, Eli Hatton, Winston Hoffman, Kendall Kanarowski, Owen Keil, Ruby McMaster, James Obermark, Pia Piccoli, Erika Prasthofer, Hasan Rahim

Region 17 Championship Meet Team Results

Girls: 2nd
Boys: 2nd

State Team Results

Girls: 8th
Boys: 14th
 
For full results please go to runnercard.com.

Athletics