Track and field may be a sport consisting of mostly individual events, but for the Lenape High School girls’ indoor track team, teamwork has been a big reason for the team’s success in 2014–15.
The Indians won their second consecutive South Jersey Group IV championship on Jan. 30 at Toms River and are hoping to make a run at the state Group IV title on Feb. 14.
A big reason for their success isn’t because of one athlete. It’s been the collective work of a number of runners and throwers who consistently place near the top of the standings in their respective events.
That collective work has shown through in the team’s relay events. On Jan. 15, Lenape breezed to victory in the girls’ sprint medley relay at the NJSIAA Relay Championships. The team of seniors Carly Pettipaw and Samantha Maynes, and sophomores Jasmine Staten and Megan Quimby didn’t just blow away the competition, they also broke the meet record by more than a full second. Their time of 4:08.21 bested the old meet record of 4:09.64 previously set by Neptune High School in 2011. The time is the best in New Jersey and third best in the country this season.
“We have a lot of depth on our team and the relay helps showcase that,” Pettipaw said.
The medley is a different from other relay events as the participants run different distances. For Lenape, Pettipaw ran 400 meters, Quimby ran 800 meters and Maynes and Staten each ran 200 meters.
The group hadn’t raced together prior to the relay championships. Since the sprint medley relay is not held at many meets, and since the girls race different distances, it is not often the four get to team up.
However, when head coach Gerald Richardson put the group together, they decided to go make history.
“Our seed time was 4:15, but as a group we decided beforehand we wanted to do 4:10,” Quimby said. “So when I crossed the finish line under that, it was really exciting.”
Richardson said he uses the relay championships as a team-building meet leading up to the larger meets such as sectionals and states. The message got across to the sprint medley relay team. The group admitted they feel a bit less pressure running together rather than individually.
“We trust each other,” Maynes said. “It’s nice to have people to rely on if you don’t have the best race.”
“It’s still a lot of pressure, but there’s also relief because you know everyone is going to be doing their best,” Quimby said. “It’s not all on you.”
The team comradery Lenape has comes from hours spent together at practice and meets. On weekdays after school, the team can be found running outside in the bitter cold. The team is also together for most of the weekend, taking long trips to Lawrenceville or Toms River for weekend meets.
Pettipaw said the team finds ways to have fun, even when in the heat of competition. When the team does have time away from school and track, they get together for social events.
“We like to have pasta parties at our sprinter sleepovers,” Maynes said. “Yesterday, we went out for fro-yo for National Fro-Yo Day.”
Enjoying each other’s company as a team is an intangible Richardson feels is important as the season reaches its apex. The Indians are hoping to improve on last year’s 12th place finish at the state Group IV championship and possibly place high enough to challenge defending champion and track and field powerhouse Columbia for the title.
To achieve this, Lenape will need to lean on all their athletes and relay teams to perform.
“We stand as a team,” Maynes said. “Our coaches are always saying a lot of other teams look at us as very competitive and a very, very good team that always works hard.”
