North Adams Transcript
Six North County track and field athletes etched their names into their school’s record books this season.
All six of them, and several other athletes will be participating at the Western Massachusetts individual championship meet Saturday. The meet is at Westfield State University and gets under way at 9:30 a.m.
Hoosac Valley’s Truman Chojnowski was the only North County male to break a school record this season.
On the girls’ side, Hoosac’s Liz Provost, Miranda Gajda and Meg Rodowicz snapped Hurricane records. For Mount Greylock, Alex Majetich and Jenna Phelps wrote their names into the school’s record book.
Chojnowski ran the 400-meter hurdles in 1 minute, 2 seconds flat to break the previous best time. He enters this weekend’s meet as the number 13 seed in Western Mass. for the event.
Provost entered the season with the possibility of breaking both the discus and shot put records. She now owns the discus title and is still hoping to grab the shot put record before she finishes her Hurricane career. The senior is seeded No. 1 in the discus and No. 3 in the shot put.
She broke the discus record with a 110-foot toss earlier in the season and then added to it with a toss of 115 feet, 7 inches at the Western Massachusetts team meet May 19. Last season her best toss was a 107 feet. At the beginning of the season, she made a change in her
"I started doing the full spin on my discus throws this year," Provost said. "My coach tried to teach me last year and I didn’t quite get it. This year, I focused on it and worked with my coach more."
Gajda, the No. 3 javelin thrower in Western Mass, snapped the javelin record with a 114-foot throw earlier in the season. She completed this season unbeaten in the event, making it two straight unbeaten seasons for the senior. Several years ago, the weight of the high school javelin changed, so all records were rewritten. Gajda is still chasing the overall record of 117 feet, set with the much lighter javelin.
Coach Greg Lucia called Provost and Gajda two "old school" athletes that continue to work hard to improve regardless of the result.
Sophomore Meg Rodowicz also snapped a Hoosac Valley record. She ran the 400-meter dash in 1:02.3, snapping the previous 1:03 record. The sophomore is seeded No. 8 heading into this weekend, behind Greylock’s Oona Wood (first) and Phelps (fifth).
Phelps still has two more seasons left to put her name into Mountie history. She specializes in the 400-meter dash, but was struggling at the mid-point of the season to trim her time. Coach Brian Gill thought it would be a good idea to try her at the Hurdles to take her mind off the 400. It was a very good idea. She is seeded No. 3 in the event.
"I just started doing hurdles two weeks ago," Phelps said. "The first time I did them I broke the record. Coach Gill told me I broke the record, but I didn’t believe him."
At the Western Mass. team meet, she ran a 1:05.21 in the 400 hurdles.
"Now I broke the record," Phelps said was her first thought when she saw the time.
Junior Alex Majetich ran the 100-meter dash in a time of 12.4 seconds to break the previous Mountie record. She enters the weekend seeded No. 3 in the 100-meter dash and No. 2 in the 200-meter dash.
Sometimes when an athlete breaks a record, their performance can drop later in the season. It takes a strong work ethic and dedication to not let that happen.
"I don’t really have to work hard to beat other people, so it’s just kind of working hard to beat myself and set new records," Provost said. "I don’t really have the competition to push me, so I have to push myself."
At the Western Mass. team meet, she won the discus by more than five feet.
When a senior breaks a school record, it’s a sign of the dedication and hard work they put into their event for four seasons. When an underclassmen claims a record, it’s a sign of things to come for them and the program.
"It sets a goal for next year," Phelps said. "It really gives me a starting block for next season."
It also makes the coaches happy.
"It makes you look at it and go, ‘Holy cow! She has two more years to go, ‘ " Lucia said.
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