NN vs. Walpole Today

This year, Bay State coaches voted to schedule a dual meet for April vacation. In theory, this avoids the need to schedule two meets in a single week early in the season, and gives more flexibility in rescheduling meets that have been rained out. On the down side, many students are either visiting colleges or away on vacation this week, so teams will be depleted.

We have had two meets so far this season, and the third meet -- the vacation meet -- is scheduled for this morning at 11:00 a.m. against Walpole. There is no indication yet that the meet has been postponed, despite the weather (light rain/mist and temperatures in the high 30's).

It is, of course, miserable weather to try to run fast, especially for the sprinters, jumpers, and throwers, who must find a way to warm up effectively for a few seconds of explosive action. It's hard for the distance runners, too, although yesterday's marathon seemed to prove that distance runners are used to suffering from the elements.

There's no doubt it has been a tough spring so far. We haven't had a really warm day yet, and half the days of April have had rain of some kind. The remnants of the storm that soaked Boston over the weekend will remain another several days, and we might not see the sun until Saturday.

So what will the meets against Walpole be like? Unlike indoor, where all the results were posted and you knew which teams were strong in which events, outdoor is a return to the old days of scouring newspapers and trying to sit through rumors to guess the strength of opposing teams. As I recall, the Walpole girls had some good runners, and one very promising distance runner, Olivia Perry, but we won't know until the meet who is actually competing in outdoor track.

In many ways, it feels as though the season hasn't really started yet. And yet, we are exactly one week away from the Brookline meet, and 11 days away from the State relays meet at Andover ("The true state championship" - Joe Tranchita).