During this indoor track season the boys team will be leaning on a quartet of senior captains to provide leadership to this young roster. The quartet is comprised of sprinters Keegan McMahan, Michael Hines, hurdler Bryce Berry, and distance runner Sean Kelly.

      The girls team will be leaning on a triplet of younger leadership due to the lack of seniors on the team. The triplet consists of sophomore, Fiona Picone, Junior, Julia Hammond, and senior, Laura McBride. 

    Oakmont’s Boys and Girls Indoor Track Team started off the season on Saturday, December 14, with a loss against Quabbin at Wachusett Regional High School. Boys lost 28 to 63. Girls lost 32 to 59. 

  Oakmont Boys acquired substantial efforts from Seth Loudon, a freshman, did well in the mile and also placed 3rd in the 1000 (5:35.70, 3:10.20), Marty Steucek, a junior, achieved 4th place in the mile and 2nd in the 2 mile (5:33.20, 11:44.70). Kamden Law, only a freshman, acquired 5th place in the 1000 and 5th in the mile (3:13, 3:34.40), Dylan Banda, another junior, placed 3rd in the mile and 2nd in the 4 by 4 (5:25), Keegan McMahan, a senior, got 4th in the shot put and 2nd in the 300 (29-11.00, 42.30), Cole Swanson, a junior, obtained 3rd in the 55 meter dash (6.90) and helped the 4 by 2 finish first, Michael Heins, another senior, achieved 4th in the 55m and 1st in the High Jump (5-6.00, 7.0), Bryce Berry, a senior, earned 2nd in the 55 Hurdles (9.10), and 2nd in the 4 by 4, Declan Leclair, only a freshman, conquered 3rd in the 55 Hurdles (9.20), Sean Kelly, got 3rd in the 2 mile, 3rd in the High Jump, and 4 by 4 (11:48.70, 5-04), Spencer Barkus, a junior, obtained 2nd in the 600 meter and 4 by 4 (1:37), and Larson Klipic, a senior, attained 5th in the Shot Put and 4 by 2 (29-04.50).

• 4 by 4 time: 4:15.20 made up of Dylan Banda, Kamden Law, Sean Kelly, and Bryce Berry who came in 2nd place. 
• 4 by 2 time: 1:45.20 (A team) made up of Keegan McMahan, Cole Swanson, Jared Podrazik, and Michael Heins which ended up coming in 1st place.
• 4 by 2 time: 1:56.60 (B Team) made up of Manny Aquino, Kef Caban, Larson Klipic, and Nicholas Goodchild who came in 2nd place due to Quabbins DQ.

     Oakmont Girls obtained solid efforts from junior, Madison Wilga in the shot put. She threw 30m which made her first place and received a school record! Madison also did the 55m and the 4 by 2 (8.10). Laura McBride, a senior, showed sincere effort during the high jump, as she jumped (4-10.00) and came in 2nd place. Laura also did the 300m and she finished first with a time of (1:50.10). Lindsey Leblanc, a sophomore, was right behind her as she obtained a 2nd place finish with a time of (2:02). Fiona Picone, only a sophomore, did the mile and 2 mile (12:44.50, 6:06.80). Fiona didn’t get her best time in the 2 mile but did very well otherwise. She got a total of 10 points! Mckinley Chabot, a freshman, did well in the mile as well getting a 3rd place finish for 1 point, her time was (6:48.90). She also did well in the 1000 for 2nd place with a time of (4:01.50). Cate Telicki, a freshman, came 3rd in the 55 meter hurdles her time was (10.7).

• 4 by 4 time: 5:17.30 came in 2nd place
• 4 by 2 time: 2:10.16 came in 2nd place

   The meet on December 18th at Fitchburg High marked a must win for both indoor teams against North Middlesex being the make or break of the season. Due to the defeat to Quabbin; a win against North Middlesex was necessary to even have a shot at winning leagues.

Marty Steucek won the 2 mile. His time was (11:35), which was his second best time! Sean Kelly came in second place after a dead sprint in the final stretch of the race passing  North Middlesex’s Roman DeLorenzo, to help secure the first and second place win for Oakmont, his time was (11:41). “I thought it was the best race I’ve ever seen,” said Oakmont’s Senior Captain, Keegan McMahan.  

Spencer Bartkus came in first in the 600 (1:36.7). He had a great race. Dylan Banda got 4th place in the mile (5:29.60) but he would of gotten a better time, however, the officials made an error on his lap time. The official thought that he was done, but Dylan had one more lap left but still made an incredible effort to make up for the error. 

     The boys 4 by 4 team were tasked with a ludicrous pressure of trying to win the meet and make up for all the shortcomings of past races and official errors. Unfortunately, the heart and effort shown by the 4 by 4 team was not enough to top the North Middlesex team. However, the heart they showed, pushing themselves till the very end was an inspiration that you could make a movie about.

    We ended up losing by ⅓ of a point but according to Coach Dufour it’s not possible in track. This happened because several of our teammates got tied for 3rd place in the high jump.  Final score was 45.67 to 45.33. Due to the officials error Oakmont filed an appeal to have the race scratched which would nullify the points earned by both teams which would mean Oakmont wins by the slimmest of margins.

• 4 by 2 time: 1:47 came in 1st place and was comprised of Josh Krawzyck, Cole Swanson, Jared Podrazik, and Keegan McMahan.
• 4 by 4 time: 4:10.50 came in 2nd place and made up of Spencer Bartkus, Dylan Banda, Declan Leclair, and Bryce Berry.

We had the Speed Classic on Sunday, December 22nd. We had moved on from our heartbreaking loss to focus on the task at hand, to make sure everyone was working hard to achieve their PR’s. This time Coach Dufour put all the distance runners in the 600 meter for some speed work. The best times out of that group were Dylan Banda, Sean Kelly, Kamden Law, Marty Steucek, and Seth Loudon, all coming in around 1:38-1:45. Spencer Bartkus, a junior, and one of the sprinters on the team, got the best time out of all of our runners that did the 600, his time was 1:35. Seniors Keegan McMahan and Larson Klipic also had a solid race in the 300. Their 4 by 2 did great as they finished first for their heat.

The Distance Classic was on Saturday, December 28th. Sophomore, Fiona Picone, ran a tremendous race during the 5000m. She placed third overall with a time of 19:34.77, great job! Marty Steucek, ran a great 1000 meter race clocking in at 3:04.34, which was a season best time! He also ran the 2 mile race for another season best! His time was 11:21.59, awesome job Marty! Henry Telicki and Russell Hertel had a strong race in the 1000 meter race as they both battled it out with close times of 3:26.65 and 3:25.35. Larson Klipic broke his record by 1 meter in the shot put throwing his season best, 35m.

Freshman-Sophomore meet was on Sunday, January 5th. Freshman, Henry Telicki, beat his personal best in the 55m hurdles, his time was 10.65. Freshman, Kamden Law, beat his personal best in the mile, his time was 5:30. Freshman, Russell Hertel, attained his personal best in the high jump (5’2”). Lindsey Leblanc, a sophomore, obtained her best time in the 600m (1:53.02). Freshman, Ava Philips, earned her personal best in the 1000. Her time was 3:58.45. Jordan Patria, a freshman, obtained her best time in the 300 (58.53).

The Spartans went into January 8’s meet against Hudson looking to get a much needed win for both teams. Boys team is going into this meet 0-2. Girls are going into this meet 1-1.

Here are some standouts from the boys team, Bryce Berry 2nd in the 55m hurdles (9.20), Nicholas Goodchild 3rd in the 55m hurdles (10.00), Spencer Bartkus 2nd in the 600m (1:36), Jared Podrazik 3rd in the 55m dash (7.10), Josh Krawczyk 5th in the 55m dash (7.70), Michael Heins 3rd in the shot put (29-08.00), and 2nd in 300 (42.60), Marty Steucek 1st in 2 mile (11:29), and 2nd in 1000 (3:10.50), Sean Kelly 2nd in 2 mile (11:37), Kamden Law 3rd in the 1000 (3:13.90) and 3rd in mile (5:30), and Dylan Banda 2nd in the mile (5:14.4) this was his personal best! He also did well in the high jump as he won that event for our team (5’4’’). 

• 4 by 4: Came in first with a time of 4:10. This was an awesome race to watch. They were behind most of the race but when Spencer Bartkus came in he caught them up alot as he helped us win the event. ‘’The leg that Spencer was in was one of the best I’ve seen in awhile,” said Coach Dufour. Other runners that helped provide a win in the relay was Dylan Banda, Sean Kelly, and Bryce Berry.

The boys team had some outstanding performances by Spencer Bartkus and Dylan Banda. Injuries and sickness plagued the boys’ team but sprinters like Brett Fells filled in for Cole Swanson in the 55 meter dash and Josh Krawczyk filled in for Swanson’s absence in the boys’ 4 by 2 relay. All was going well for the boys’ until late when it seemed it would come down to the relays yet again. All seemed fine when the Oakmont 4 by 2 team won their race, only to be disqualified after a controversial decision that Oakmont sprinter, Jared Podrazik cut in front of a Hudson sprinter which put Oakmont in a hole to where the 4 by 4 team would be tasked with winning the whole meet, again. 

The pandemonium that broke out when Spencer Bartkus passed the Hudson runner was possibly one of the most intense sports moments in Oakmont history. The fun was spoiled after officials double checked scoring to see Hudson came in first for the 300 meter sprint. This marks a second straight heartbreaking loss against this one to Hudson 42 to 49, now all focus is on Saturday for the Northeast Invitational. 

Girls team had some strong outcomes as they won against Hudson 57 to 34

Laura McBride, a senior, won the high jump and also broke the long time High Jump School Record. Her jump was (5’1’’), way to go Laura! She also won in the 600m (1:52) and 1000m (3:43). Madison Wilga captured the shot put (28’ 2’’) and the 55m dash (7.9). Fiona Picone was victorious in the 2 mile (12:38.2) and mile (6:01.8). Cate Telicki took first place in the 55m hurdles (10.7).

• 4 by 2: Came in first place with a time of 2:13.9. This relay was comprised of Madison Wilga, Emma Simkewicz, Julia Hammond, and Madison O’Brien.