After a strong indoor season highlighted by several Cape and Island Championship placements, the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School track and field team is ready to stretch their legs on a track double the size and take on some extra events as the outdoor track season kicks off.
The season opened in Harwich on Wednesday where both the boys and girls teams took on Monomoy Regional High School and Sturgis Charter Public School in a dual meet.
On the girl’s side, the Vineyarders dominated in the field events, taking 21 of 27 points against Monomoy and 20 of 27 points versus Sturgis.
“The girls swept the shot-put against both teams and they swept the discus versus Monomoy,” said head coach Joe Schroeder on Friday.
Senior Madison Mello, who is ranked as a top thrower in the state, took first place in shot put in Wednesday’s dual meet; sophomore Katelyn Tankersly took second place, and junior Tatiane Marcelino took third.
In the discus against Monomoy, Mello took first again, junior Sophia Alves took second, and Marcelino took third.
Junior Samilly Guimaraes, who is a rookie on the track team, also stepped up for some needed points, taking first in the 100-meter as well the 200-meter, while Sophia Alves earned points in the distance competition, taking first in the 800-meter against Monomoy and second against Sturgis.
On the boys side, the Vineyarders also did well in shot put and discuss, with a versatile first place finish by sophomore Kaniel Morgan in the shot put and the 200-meter; sophomore Enzo Reis took first place finishes in the high hurdles against both Monomoy and Sturgis and second in 400 low hurdles.
“I kinda like where we are right now. Our distance kids are in a good spot,” said coach Schroeder. “We are looking forward to the rest of the season, we have some holes to fill but that will come.”
Both the boys and the girls are eager to build on their indoor successes, though the transition to outdoor brings some added challenges.
“It’s a whole different animal because of the size of the track and the amount of events,” Schroeder said.
On the girls side, they are relatively small in number but are taking on the tall task of covering all 16 outdoor events, stretching thin the numbers they have.
“We want to cover all the events with the kids we have, which is a tall order but we are going to try,” said Schroeder.
Two standout seniors, Camille Brand and Mello, are expected to lead the way for the girls team.
For Brand, this is only her third season competing, but in just three years, Brand shattered both the indoor and outdoor school records for high jump. She is looking to qualify for nationals in the high jump for the third season in a row, and is committed to compete at Tufts University next year.
“It’s especially impressive given her short amount of time,” said Schroeder. “She has reached the highest level in her event.”
Meanwhile, Mello is a dominant force all around but she excels in the shot put. She broke her own school record for shot-put twice, finished third in the state last year, was undefeated in the indoor track season, and will be looking to set more records this season.
On the boys side, the team is a good size and ready to take on all 16 events. Schroeder highlighted four key athletes to keep an eye on, including senior captains Luis Costa and Broden Vincent. Costa is a versatile threat, placing third in the indoor league’s 300-meter. He will also compete in the 100-meter, the 200-meter, the 400-meter, and even the 800-meter. Vincent, who took third in the indoor leagues mile, will be focusing on longer distance races, taking on the two-mile and the 800.
Sophomore’s Reis and Morgan are also primed to have an impact this season. Reis is a hurdler who will be competing in the 110-meter hurdles as well as the 400-meters. He qualified for divisionals indoor, finishing 12th in hurdles and second in the indoor league meet. Reis is currently chasing the school record in the 400-meter hurdles, previously set by Raphael Maciel in 2015. Morgan, who Schroeder called the team’s most versatile athlete, not only throws shot put and discus, but he also runs the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter sprints. Last season Morgan qualified for freshman nationals in the discus and the sprint medley, where he ran the 200-meter leg.
Schroeder’s goal for the season is to improve and qualify as many athletes for states and nationals as possible.
“I would like to finish in the top half of the league. We have some strong teams in our league and that makes us only better, they are learning a lot about competing at a higher level,” said Schroeder. “So we are hoping to put that experience to use this year in the spring.”
“I am just looking forward to sending the seniors out on a good note,” he added.
