Opening with two consecutive league wins and a strong showing at the Oaks Christian Invitational and Tri-County Invitational, the track and field team has come out of the gate firing on all cylinders. School records and personal records have been broken in this season’s first two weeks.
Imani Cook-Gist ’15 made her debut as a pole-vaulter at the girls’ season opener against Louisville, and promptly broke the girls’ school record with a jump of 10’6″. Cook-Gist made school history becoming the first member of the track and field team to set a school record in her first attempt at the event.
“Breaking the record was a pretty exhilarating moment for me,” Cook-Gist said. “It was the first time I had gone into a track event without any expectations whatsoever and to do well enough to break the record felt great. As a team we’ve started out pretty well. We have so many talented athletes on our team that we can only get better. I just hope everyone stays injury free for the rest of the season.”
After spending last year on junior varsity, Adam Knapp-Wachsner ’15 made his presence felt in his first varsity meet, setting three personal records in long jump, triple jump, and pole vault. Knapp-Wachsner added 3’8″ to his previous triple jump of 37’2 1/2.”
“I’m very pleased with the beginning of our season,” Head Coach Jonas Koolsbergen said. “We are off to a good start and performing very well.”
Koolsbergen said to keep an eye on Courtney Corrin ’16, Alexandria Florent ’15, Lizzy Thomas ’14, Garrett Robinson ’15, David Manahan ’14, Efe Agege ’14, Monica Nimmagadda ’14 and Jonathan Felker ’14 as the season progresses.
Koolsbergen expects strong performances from that group of individuals to power the team through the season.
Corrin, Florent and Thomas represented last year’s squad at CIF Championships and have all started off strong.
Florent, who currently holds the school record for girls’ high jump, came out on top in both high jump and long jump in league meets against Louisville High School and Alemany High School.
Both Thomas and Corrin have also started off the season on a high note, both racking up multiple wins in their first league matches.
Koolsbergen holds high expectations for his squad as it enter the thrust of its schedule after seeing strong performances across the board in the young season.
“Our outlook is very positive,” Koolsbergen said. “We have a very strong team and we expect to have a strong season. I’m definitely confident with the talent on this year’s team and feel like it can perform at a very high level.”
Thrower Cole Jacobson ’15 shares Koolsbergen’s optimism and believes the team can only get better.
“Both genders are 2-0 right now so that’s obviously a good start,” Jacobson said. “The boys’ team is off to a really good start after beating Crespi and Alemany, who were both teams we lost to last year, so that’s really good for us. Getting guys like Garrett Robinson and David Manahan healthy again has been huge, and hopefully they can continue to get in better shape and help us be a dominant team in the league.”
The team’s most recent competition was against Notre Dame yesterday, but results were unavailable as of press time. Koolsbergen believes the meets early in the season are ways to gain experience and are stepping stones to the team’s bigger goals.
“We’re excited about it,” Koolsbergen said before the meet. “It’s another step in our journey, it’s another part of the process. It isn’t a crucial meet, but it is a good opportunity for us to continue our evolution as a team and get good work in.”
The Wolverines will face off against St. Francis and Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy tomorow in an away meet.
