MATF Preview
By JEHAN BOER ‘21
After a long, cold, and extended Winter, Spring is finally here, or it should be. Along with the green quad, the sun, and the shorts, Spring brings the third trimester of sports here at Milton. With weather warm enough to play outside and the fields finally in good enough condition to play on, athletes ready to play lacrosse, tennis, baseball, or golf escape the confinement of the ACC to represent Milton in their respected sports. One team that is excited to get out into the sun is Milton Track. Track is a unique sport because it mixes every single aspect of athleticism into a series specialized events. Field events focus on different types of strength, sprinting isolates speed, and long distance events work with endurance and capability. With so much to offer, track is a huge opportunity to many of the athletes at Milton. One athlete who is considerably excited for the upcoming season is Alexa Pil ‘21, who does hurdles and pole vault. This year is her second doing Track and Field, and she expects a year just as good as her first one.
In Milton’s previous track season, both boys and girls took second place in the ISL (a feat that warranted celebration). But since then, the track team has taken a few losses, including some coaching staff, as well as many talented seniors. The Class of 2018 had a few seniors who went on and continued their Track and Field adventures into college—athletes like Lok Ho and John Minicus—whose talents will be heavily missed. In fact, their exits may leave a small hole for the boys’ team, as thirteen of the nineteen highest scorers for Milton were seniors who graduated last year. The girls’ team, however, looks as though it is in safe hands, as their top competitors still remain at Milton. As a combined group, the entire track team hopes to dig deep and go outside their comfort zones in order to recreate the amazing finish of last season.
One thing that will be a deciding factor will be some of the new coaching staff, including new head coach, Thomas Giatrakos. He has made a good first impression on his new team, and he has been described as “intense and fierce.” Alexa Pil says that his “new coaching techniques may be intimidating, but he knows how to get the best out of his runners,” and he proved this claim with the impressive pick of his 4x1 team. While three out of the four runners he chose were new and inexperienced, all four impressed at the meet last weekend. The oldcomers to this team have some getting used to, and the newcomers, including the coaches, hope to all add to the team and recreate past feats—and more—for this upcoming season. Although nothing is for certain, the track team seems to have chosen the correct mixture of players and coaches for this season.
