As summer draws to a close and children ready for the opening day of school, one may look back at the past few months as the rise and regrowth of local track and field among area athletes. Shannon Gawronski, health and fitness director at the Norwich YMCA, served as primary track and field coach in a voluntary track and field camp open to all area youth the past two months.
Dozens of boys and girls participated, and the interest reached a crescendo last week with a YMCA-sponsored track meet held at the Norwich High School track facility. All participants received T-shirts for participating, and medals were awarded to winners in each event.
“I really think we are seeing a renewed interest in track and field in this area, and I don’t think it’s just because it’s an Olympic year,” Gawronski said. “I want to strongly encourage this trend because in track and field, every child can find an event that’s right for them.”
Gawronski said that participating in track and field is empowering to each individual, who can then control their own success and progress through hard work and desire, rather than hoping a coach will play them in a game.
“We have had such a depth of talent in this area, and I have been fortunate this summer that these great runners have chosen to give back to younger kids,” Gawronski said.
Assistant coaches this year included Emily and Katie Woodford, state champions at Oxford and current members of the Cornell women’s track and field team; Andre Bryant, Sydney Chaffee, a Norwich junior; Sarah Spittler, a recent NHS graduate; Caleb Cutting, an Oxford varsity track and field athlete, and guest coaches Matt Murray and Brooke Bonney of Norwich, both of whom placed in the New York State high school state track and field meet this past season.
Gawronski noted the growth of other running programs such as Girls on the Run, an international organization whose mission is to inspire girls to celebrate their inner strength through meeting individual running goals and encouraging each other. The Girls on the Run program culminates with a celebratory 5K run in Cooperstown, and this past summer nearly 600 runners participated.
Earlier this summer, a number of local athletes traveled to Ilion to qualify for the Hershey Games, the largest track and field sports program in North America involving youth ages 9-14. Athletes who placed first at Ilion earned a chance to be one of 480 finalists competing in the national meet held annually in Hershey, Pa.
Two Norwich girls, among the 335 athletes competing, helped the girls age 13-14 400-meter relay team place first: Megan Komendarek and Danika Tworkowsky. The two Norwich girls teamed with Lauren Gravelding and Shanell Sherman to time 58 seconds. Komendarek also earned a third-place finish in the girls 13-14 800-meter run with a time of 2:45. Gabe Gawronski, a first-time participant, placed third overall in the boys age 11-12 800-meter run with a time of 2:46. Katie Gawronski (9), of Norwich, and also a first-time participant, placed third in the girls age 9-10 400-meter dash with a time of 1:21.
Twenty area athletes competed in the Ilion games with the newest team hailing from Greene-Oxford. The team was launched and coached by former Oxford varsity track and field coach Irene DeJager. DeJager and Gawronski, not coincidentally, have a long history together in the sport of track and field, and have coached together many years. “We were sectional champs while in high school, state qualifiers, teammates, and sisters who competed together growing up,” Gawronski said. “It has turned into coaching more sectional champs and state competitors as adults. So, naturally, our plan is to continue to encourage as many kids as we can to also find their joy and self-esteem through track and field.”