Morse High School runners begin their heat in the 800-meter run during a Feb. 26 meet against Brunswick in Topsham. Eli Canfield/The Times Record
The Brunswick and Morse high school indoor track and field teams made the most of an unusual season, competing against each other in three meets.
With the coronavirus pandemic impacted all winter sports, particularly indoor track.
Although the Maine Principals’ Association did not offer championship track meets, Morse and Brunswick got together three times at the Topsham Indoor Sports Complex, also known as “The Dome.”
“The meets against Brunswick didn’t really take shape until late in the season, but we’re glad they did,” said Morse co-head coach Brent Luchies. “The folks over at Brunswick did an amazing job of turning “The Dome” into an indoor track facility where our athletes could compete in a variety of events, making it the perfect way to end our season.”
The spacious facility that is normally utilized as an indoor soccer field, was converted into a makeshift indoor indoor track, complete with a shot put area, hurdles and cones marking a “track” for the longer distance races around the field.
“It all came together a lot faster than you’d think,” said Brunswick co-head coach Heather Hoisington. “Our athletes worked so hard all winter with the possibility of no competition, so we wanted to find a way to reward them in some way.”
Because of modifications, the schools were not allowed to “compete” against each other indoors, meaning that the schools had to run each race separately from one another.
To cap off the season, the third and final meet was held outdoors on a sunny afternoon at Brunswick High School, where the athletes could run against each other in races.
“We saw some incredible time drops over the course of the three weeks, which attests to the competition” Hoisington said. “It definitely helped to have their actual competition racing against them outdoors, instead of just racing against the clock.”
Both teams are hoping that their final meet will have some sort of resemblance to the upcoming outdoor track season.
“The weather was phenomenal and it was a good preview of what will hopefully be a solid outdoor season,” said Luchies. “Overall, I feel like it was a nice outlet for both the coaches and athletes during an otherwise tough winte. I’m hoping that the kids look back at it as a time where they had some fun hanging out as a team, learned some new skills, and perhaps tried something new.”
Added Hoisington: “We all hope that the outdoor season will provide days as warm as that final meet was, but it was a good precursor as we move into the outdoor season.”
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