The Hilltop continues to buzz as the Saint Anselm Track and Field team march on in their inaugural season. With still plenty of time left in the season, the Hawks are working to have as many of their runners as possible qualify for NE10 championship competition and beyond. Runner Colby Lynch said “This season has been good so far. We had a big break in the middle but we still worked out during the break. We had our first meet before winter break at the New Balance track in Boston and then we kind of had the winter full of workouts.”
While they had a big gap during the winter break, the Hawks are poised to finish out their season strong. Lynch continued to mention how there are still some members of the team that are still working hard to qualify for NE10 championships. He said “We’ve had a lot of good meets. A lot of good performances, but people are still trying to qualify for NE10s.”
Freshman James Cognata added and harkened on the fact that the Hawks are a very young team. He said “We have a very young team… So it’s been a big adjustment period. We’ve been getting a lot better and a lot of growth on the team.” On the topic of adjustments, Sophomore Rebecca Cady emphasized that coming back to campus after break was an adjustment as well. She added “I think for everyone on the team, it’s the adjustment coming back onto campus where it’s, you’re at home, you don’t have the same intensity but now being back here, it’s like alright, now I really want to go all in to round out the season.”
The Hawks have had immense success in their inaugural season, all the while not having a track to compete on. At the beginning of the 2022-23 academic year, Saint Anselm announced a brand new state of the art facility for the new track and field program coming to campus. However, almost 2 years later, ground has not been broken nor were there any signs of construction beginning.
Head Coach and Director of the Track and Field program Peter Early expects to break ground “this spring slash summer. To be specific May or June with a projected completion of spring 2025.” The director also acknowledged the prospect of construction being delayed saying “So I think seeing what it would be done is a little more complex because we never know how construction is going to go” He continued that the spring 2025 date should be the target as long as construction goes smoothly and to plan.
Despite a lack of a facility, Coach Early is confident in his team and his program. Regarding goals, Coach Early has high expectations for his team. He said “we had pretty big goals. Year one, even though it is you know, the first year thing so far a lot of those things are coming into fruition like we had hoped. We’re fortunate to have a good group on campus already that chose St. A’s because they love the school. But you know, had to stop track because it didn’t exist then obviously. Once we added it, they were able to do what they love. Then we brought in some really talented, new faces between freshmen and transfers. So far, I think it’s going really well.”
Looking towards the future, Coach Early wants to build off of the team’s early success. He continued to say “the expectation going forward is to build off of the success of this first year continue to bring in really talented, high character individuals and, you know, sustainable success because you know, it can be easy to have short term success in our sport, but we’re looking to build something that is sustainable and successful for a long time.”
Coach Early and his team are going full steam ahead into the home stretch of their first season on the Hilltop. With an amazing coaching staff and talented players, it is evident that Saint Anselm track is here to stay and will be a dominant force in the Saint A’s athletic department going forward.
