Coming off an exceptional season last year, the Knights indoor track team prepares to meet a mingling of fresh challenges and favorable new assets that await them in the upcoming 2024 season. 

Last year, the team beheld the once-in-many-years occurrence of an athlete qualifying for the state championship, then the national championship, and finally the prestigious Millrose Games, as CJ Simbiri ’24 finished his senior season excelling in the triple jump. In addition, several senior girls qualified for the Meet of Champs, a rigorous culmination of the best athletes from the five-county area. “So many profited from the meets,” adds Senior Coach, Dr. George McFarland. 

Now, despite the loss of several stars, the team has received a boost of younger runners which has doubled its size from last year’s squad, bringing its total to approximately twenty-one boys and nine girls. Added to this, Coach McFarland and Coach Hill will have the assistance of Coach Henry Oestreich. While Coach McFarland will handle training in mid-to-long distance events, Coach Hill and Coach Oestreich will specialize in assisting athletes in throwing and sprinting, respectively. Coach McFarland comments that having an additional coach helps because indoor track is often “a lot of commitment timewise on the road and at the meets,” which tend to run for over four hours at fairly distant locations.

 Most striking, however, will be the opportunity the Knights will have to run at one of the nation’s state-of-the-art tracks which has just been completed on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus. Featuring adjustable banked curves and an up-to-date timing system, access to this track is a one-of-a-kind privilege. “I can't think of many places you could go in the country where you have access to that type of track,” Coach McFarland exclaims. 

Despite coming in the wake of last year’s dazzling array of talent, this year’s team has its own line-up of promising runners. Senior Joey Cuozzo will be entering his fourth year running the 800 meters, in which he has shown considerable strength in the past. “I’m just hoping to work on it more and get a lot faster and practice a lot harder,” Joey states. Two other high-performing boys who will be returning this year are juniors Jonas Ma and MJ Oh. Jonas has shown serious aptitude in sprinting while MJ, also a sprinter, hopes to regain his speed, as his previous season was eclipsed by injuries. “It was a good opportunity for me to focus on helping others,” MJ admits. Now, with fresh vigor, he declares, “I hope to be able to qualify for the Meet of Champs.”

Ready for the new challenges and excitement this season will bring, Coach McFarland states, “I think it's the goal that we get athletes on the track, and they get experience there, being a lot of younger runners.”