Even though each year requires both the boys and girls track teams to find new talent to replace their graduated stars, both head coaches are confident in the team’s ability to step up to its annual challenge.
“The program right now has gotten to the point where it builds on itself,” said co-head coach Richard Kirby. “Season after season, the kids step up. There’s a tradition in the program to win.”
Last year provided a perfect example of the team’s approach. Despite losing nearly all of their top point scorers from the previous season, the boys and girls finished a combined 14-1 in head-to-head meets and both finished in the top four at Founders.
“It’s a cliché, but we try not to rebuild but to reload,” said co-head coach Nate Seidenberg, who also noted that the championship meets only allow the Bearcats to enter two athletes in each event, and that the team is often much deeper than that. As a result, there is usually a strong pool of emerging talent ready to step up each season.
Seidenberg has been elevated to share head coaching duties with Kirby this year after 20 years as one of his assistants. After this season, the two will trade their traditional roles and Kirby will assist Seidenberg.
Both coaches agreed that the essence of the partnership will remain unchanged. “Nate has been a tower of strength in terms of support to me when I was the sole head coach. I look forward to doing the same going forward as the roles change,” said Kirby.
Seidenberg agreed. “We’ve had such a successful program in my 20 years here with Richard as head coach. It needs continuity, not change,” he said.
One of the reasons for the program’s enduring success, said both coaches, has been the philosophy of individual support and accountability. “What we try to do is encourage the students. Push them, but encourage them at the same time,” said Seidenberg.
Ultimately each member of the team should be competing against themselves. “It’s not always about winning the race, it’s about competing. Even though the events are individual, everyone counts to help the team,” he added.
Co-captains Joseph Richards ’19 and Amanda Hill ’19, two of the seven captains of the team this year, both echoed that theme. “My goal for the team this season is for everyone to achieve a new personal best in their event,” said Hill. “Personal bests are a great way for us to celebrate hard work and achievement.”
The team has potential in a variety of events on both teams, but all agreed that with barely two meets under their belts, it is much too soon to project which events will be strongest at the end of the season.
Richards said that he and the other captains will be working to create a team atmosphere that will promote everyone’s best achievement. “Track can be very hard and practices can be grueling, but when you feel at home with your teammates, you’ll be more inclined to push yourself and others to be better,” he said.
