2018 Vermont Indoor State Meet Preview

The 2018 Indoor track has season has been quite unique.  Multiple meets cancelled due to weather, no meets at Norwich, a Vermont meet hosted in New Hampshire, and lastly, states held at UVM (that hopefully won’t continue into the early hours of the morning like last year).  While many of the prevailing narratives from the previous season continued through to this year, a few new ones also emerged to keep this season as interesting as any other.  With the State Championships this weekend, teams are ready to put it all out on the line for a shot at glory.

One of the most distinct differences from states last year to states this year will be the time the meet takes.  With the new qualifying format, the fields will be limited to twelve athletes, so events will be run incredibly quickly.  This will leave athletes with less rest than they are used to, possibly turning this meet into a competition of attrition.  Certain teams have been training with this in mind, so there may be unexpected teams that turn heads this weekend.  All we have to say is good luck to athletes doubling (or even tripling up) between the 1500m, 600m, 1000m.

Athlete Spotlights

Patrick O’Hara-South Burlington

South Burlington’s Patrick O’Hara, now in his second year of track and field, has absolutely proven that his athleticism on the soccer field translates to skills on the track.  Ranked in the top five of division 1 in long jump, high jump, 55m, and 300m, plus the 4×200 and 4×400, Patrick looks primed to lead the pack of the newly renamed South Burlington Wolves.  

Sonia John + Abi Lowe-Rice Memorial + Hartford

The most heavily favored sprinters coming into this season were Rice’s Sonia John, and Hartford’s Abi Lowe.  Decorated with accolades from both in state and out of state, these two continued their reign from last year as two of the most dominant athletes in Vermont.  Look for at least four individual gold medals from this pair at the D2 state meet on Friday.  

Molly McCreedy-U32

Molly McCreedy’s performances this year have been simply astonishing.  Molly has broken the shot put state record on multiple occasions this season, reaching 41’ 3.75” in December, and furthering that distance to 42’ 9.5” at PSU in January.  The record books in Vermont have rarely had any athlete surpass a state record on multiple occasions in such a short period of time, which makes this feat even more impressive. 

Notable Races

Girls D1 600m

The 600m is a unique race, it combines the aggression of sprinting, with the patience needed for distance races.  The opening 50m is always exciting, with jostling for positions being done at high speed.  This season in the girls D1 race, we expect nothing less than fireworks; while the field of a 600m is often dominated by distance runners ‘going down’, this year it’s primarily sprinters ‘going up’.  The familiar faces of Cowan, Kakalec, and Rotti lead the field this year, which should lead to an excellent race to both 50m, and to the finish line.  

Girls D1 55mh

Does anybody remember the women’s 100m hurdle final in Rio?  The unprecedented American sweep was the highlight of the games for many; Saint Johnsbury could emulate that level of dominance.  Their girls currently occupy seeds 1, 2, 3, 5.  This is just one example of the depth that Saint Johnsbury head coach Chip Langmaid produces year after year.  

Predictions

This year’s meet will be difficult to predict.  As mentioned earlier, the largest factor will be which athletes can recover the fastest between events and be ready to score in multiple events.  That said, Rice’s girls look to have the experience and depth to with the d2 title, while the boys d2 title will be hotly contested between Rice, Hartford, Oxbow, and Milton.  At the d1 level, South Burlington, MMU, and Saint Johnsbury will come down to the wire on both the boys and girls side.  Good luck to everyone competing this weekend!