After Rye’s boys and girls track and field teams swept the indoor league titles over the winter, the outdoor teams aim to do the same this spring.
The Garnets weren’t far from that goal a year ago, when the boys and girls teams both finished as league runners-up to Ardsley.
The need to improve ever so slightly is a fitting goal for Rye.
Coach Bryan Johnson said one of the program’s key values is encouraging athletes of all skill levels to push themselves to get better each time they compete. That emphasis was established by the late Jim Yedowitz, who coached the team for 40-plus years before he died in 2019.
“Coach Yedowitz set the standard for Rye track and field for decades, and we really work to celebrate the athlete who hits a PR the same way we celebrate one who makes all-league or all-county,” Johnson said. “So in terms of goals, we want to help the kids get better and better, week by week. The medals they win is a byproduct of all of the work they put in during the practices and the collective mindset that they buy into.”
The Garnets had no shortage of medals a year ago.
Erin Ball, now a senior, qualified for the 2024 New York State meet in high jump. Another senior, Rocklan Boisseau, was second in the county in javelin.
“We’re also expecting big things from senior Sophia Bubeck in the hurdles, senior Anna Kearney in the pole vault, junior Ben Truman in the 400/800, and junior Lily Oberbannscheidt in the 1500,” Johnson said.
Ball and Kearney earned all-county status in the winter, and Ball and Truman competed at nationals.
The outdoor team got off to a running start this spring, competing in a season-opening meet April 2 at Pelham, followed immediately by meets at Harrison on April 4 and Rye Neck on April 5.
