Foran’s success due to hard work
The Foran girls outdoor track and field team is off to a solid 3-3 start and coach Rick Raucci couldn’t be happier.
“Thanks to a collection of things, a combination of things, this is our best start since I started coaching seven years ago,” said Raucci during his tri-meet with Career and Cheshire at Cheshire on Tuesday. “We typically get somewhere in the mid 30s when it comes to the number of girls who come out for the team each year. But this season we have 50 girls on the team and that is fantastic.
“We have a lot more underclassmen who are putting in a lot of hard work. This includes a lot of freshman talent. We have a group of very talented freshmen who are contributing. This season, thanks in large part to their hard work, our focus is on everyone
Hillhouse Invitational, New Haven, Saturday, 10 a.m.: Some of the top teams in the state gather for an early postseason preview.
Darien, McMahon at Wilton, Monday, 4 p.m.: A key FCIAC matchup. being more versatile and competing in multiple events. All of this, the hard work, the large number of girls, and buying into the idea of being more versatile, has given us more depth than in previous years.”
Emma Cote and Julia Munn are among those contributing to success. In a recent tri-meet with Hand and North Haven Cote won the 1600 (6 minutes, 11 seconds) and Munn won the pole vault (7-0). The Lions have four pole vaulters on the team. Sophomore Soledad Meade won the pole vault in a recent victory over Guilford (8 feet) and in the Cheshire/ Career tri-meet (7-6). The other pole vaulters are Jamie Visochi and freshman Ava Steigbigel.
Kathryn Dennis contributes in the 4x100 relay, long jump, triple jump and won the 100 (13.4) at the Guilford meet. Pauline Fernandez competes in the 4x100 relay and won the 200
(27.2) at the Guilford meet and at the Cheshire/Career tri-meet in 26.5 seconds.Another freshman, Ashley Wright, competes in the
100, 200 and 400 and also contributes in the hurdles.
Other contributors are the team’s tri-captains Maggie Cummings (1600, 3200), Cote, and Tessa Malesky (high jump, hurdles).
“This good start to the season has really motivated us,” Cote said. “We’re all doing our best and we’re beating teams that beat us in the past.”
Cummings said, “We’re pushing each other and supporting each other to see how long we can keep winning and improving.”
“The girls are very excited,” Raucci said. “We beat two teams so far, Guilford and North Haven, who beat us last year. Hopefully this creates some momentum as we head toward the postseason (SCC meet, Class MM), and postseason success is what we are working toward. The versatility we’ve focused on is a huge positive for us because we can sub girls in any event and know we can get a positive outcome.”