According to the website ny.milesplit.com, Norwich’s boys indoor track and field team is the sixth-ranked Class B team in the state this winter.
With standouts Matt Murray and Patrick Taylor leading the way for the Tornado, the ranking is well deserved.
Because their meets are all at least an hour’s drive away, it’s not surprising that the Tornado’s group of athletes have quietly went about their business under the direction of head coach Shaun Horan. After last week’s performances at the Section IV state qualifier, Murray, Taylor, and sophomore girls standout, Sydney Chaffee, are firmly affixed on the track and field radar.
Murray won the section title in the 600-meter dash with a school-record 1:22.79; Taylor earned a state-meet-qualifying jump in the long jump of 21 feet 6 1/2 inches to place second, and Chaffee not only set a new school record in the 300-meter dash, but her time of 42.84 seconds placed her second in the section as she earned a spot among the state’s best for the March 3 New York State Championships at Cornell University.
The trio of NHS state qualifiers – and record-breakers – have continued to raise the bar with their performances, and have earned our weekly distinction as Smith Ford Supercenter/Evening Sun Athletes of the Week.
Taylor, a senior, centered his focus this winter on track and field after playing basketball the past several years. Just three weeks ago, he executed the longest jump in school history – indoors or outdoors – at the Hurley-Quinney Meet hosted by Cornell University. In the long jump, Taylor soared 22 feet 3 3/4 inches. Taylor was nibbling around the 22-foot mark the past year, and he finally met his stated goal of reaching that barrier. Getting the school record was just a bonus.
“He’s just an absolutely super, explosive kid,” Horan said. “To watch him in practice, the kid can jump over anything. We built his training this year to focus on his explosiveness, and he has reacted well with the stuff we have set up for him.”
Taylor will occasionally run legs in relays, and he was part of the foursome that broke the 800-meter relay school record last weekend at the state qualifier. Taylor, though, is a jumper by trade. Unlike his teammates who can work on running drills indoors, Taylor does not have a pit or a runway on which to practice. Horan will sometimes set up mats for Taylor to leap into, but it isn’t the same.
Taylor’s only practice time for the long jump and triple jump comes during warm-ups before meets. “He’s just been amazing this year,” Horan said. “We actually got outside to practice three times this winter, which is rare. Other than that, we work in the hallways (at school). It’s been a real challenge for him, and all the teams have to deal with that. It helps that Patrick – and all of the kids – are such hard workers, and he’s going to do what he has to do jumping into a pit or not.”
Murray, a sophomore, has been ahead of the curve since he started setting records for Norwich as an eighth-grader on the varsity team. He set indoor and outdoor records last year as a Norwich freshmen, and is showing no signs of letting up. Horan said that he did extensive Internet research, and Murray’s state-qualifying time in the 600 meters is the fastest in the country this year for a sophomore, and is 27th overall in the nation.
“Matt just responds well to everything we give him, and he has never questioned any of the training,” Horan said. “For someone like me, who ran middle distances, to see how he handles workouts and just keeps going. He’s unbelievable. He just accelerates through things when other kids are slowing down.”
With Chaffee, part of Horan’s coaching was getting her to believe in herself. Chaffee was with Horan as a first-time participant on the cross country team in the fall. Chaffee, always a sprinter, proved to herself that she was a more-than-capable distance runner.
A longtime basketball player, Chaffee made the decision to dual sport – the only girl on the Norwich team to have that workload. She not only makes all of the basketball practices, but completes all of the requirements for track and field practice. Juggling schoolwork and two sports, “Syd,” as Horan calls his sophomore, does her work quietly and with a smile on her face.
“She’s fully committed to both sports,” Horan said. “She’s the type of kid that will go to practice before a meet. She will ask permission (from basketball coach Josh Bennett) to not lift weights so she doesn’t tire her legs out before the meet. She’ll go to he meet and come home late, and the first thing she does is go to the weight room to complete her workout, Most kids would be tired, but she doesn’t want to skip out. She’s very conscientious and works incredibly hard.”
Chaffee was skeptical about her abilities in the 300 meters. She was a solid performer in the outdoor season, but this was a smaller oval running indoors. She had some respectable times early in the season running a 45.43 in the 300 meters in the middle of December.
Every meet, Chaffee chopped off time, and her state qualifier performance nearly three full seconds lower than that December time. In about six weeks of practice, that is an incredible drop. “She’s a really nice girl and pleasant until the gun goes off,” Horan said. “Then she’s like a lion, and absolutely wants to tear up the track every time she is on it.”
Chaffee is just one of three Norwich athletes “tearing it up” this winter. All three athletes will likely use their winter efforts as a springboard for the upcoming spring track and field season. “All three kids just work incredibly hard,” Horan said. “You know when you put them out there, you’re going to get their best.”