BEACON FALLS — The streak will be at stake again.
The Woodland girls’ unparalleled stretch of consecutive Naugatuck Valley League track championships will be on the line again this spring. The Hawks have won five straight NVL outdoor titles and are fresh off their seventh straight indoor crown.
But when it comes down to both the girls and boys track programs at Woodland, the goals are simple.
“We want to be competitive again,” said Woodland boys coach Bill Ferrare, who will once again team up with longtime girls coach Jeff Lownds. “You never know what the other programs in the NVL are going to have. Hopefully we’ll be competitive again and represent Woodland like we have in the past.”
The Woodland boys finished third at last year’s NVL outdoor meet and this year’s NVL indoor competition. Both the Hawks boys and girls should be contenders for the league championships this spring.
There’s plenty of talent returning on both sides of the program.
The Woodland girls are often powered by depth and relay success — they won two relays at the NVL indoor meet, led by girls such as Megen Sirowich, Erika Michie, Emilie Noreika, Jessica Fox, Jaden Young, Jade Brennan, Karly Laliberte and Sydney Grillo. Alexandra Cianciolo, Victoria Gugliotti, Emma Slavin, Jasmine Michie, Kristen Persico and Stephanie Poynton also enjoyed individual success at the indoor meet and are poised to build upon that success this spring.
The Woodland boys had more individual gold medalists at the NVL indoor meet as Matt Luxeder and Craig Starkey claimed titles in the 600 meters and pole vault, respectively. One of the state’s top sprinters, Tom Smith, was injured for that meet but is expected to be good to go for the outdoor season.
“He’s back to himself, for the most part,” Ferrare said. “We’re finally outside now, so we had him doing a sprint workout and he looked strong. I think he’s ready to go.”
There are more than 100 athletes out for the team this spring, including about two dozen freshmen, Ferrare said. That can create some logistical challenges, but he said the squad benefits from great senior leadership.
“It’s a big help,” Ferrare said. “We’re fortunate to have the coaching staff we have so we can cover all the disciplines, but we have captains within those disciplines to keep everything structured. We have a lot of new athletes, a lot of underclassmen, which is great. We have to figure out their disciplines and go from there.”
Woodland will be tested early in the dual-meet season. The Hawks will open the schedule Tuesday at Torrington and Naugatuck. They’ll face other top contenders in Watertown, Seymour, Derby, and Wolcott before the end of April.
