By Connor Swanson
Twenty-plus years in the making, and athletes at Western New England University will finally be able to burn rubber on the track. The announcement that WNE would be adding Outdoor Track and Field as a Varsity sport for both the men’s and women’s teams came in March of 2024. Nearly a full year later, the team was ready for their first meet at the collegiate level.
The USATF New England Indoor Championships took place on Sunday, February 23rd, at the prestigious Harvard University. As an Outdoor Track and Field team, this indoor event served as a preseason meet.
“It’s a chance to get out there and compete, feel what it’s like, kind of like a scrimmage,” said Jon Harris, head coach of the Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams and the Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams.
While this track meet may not mean anything from a regular season standpoint, it is a huge opportunity for the athletes to figure out what their strengths and weaknesses are and where to go from there.
With any new team, there are going to be a lot of different thoughts running through the minds of athletes and coaches. Nervousness, excitement, and even expectations for year one. It was a quick turnaround for this program, being introduced in March, and having to scramble to recruit and find athletes willing to believe in a new, first-year team.
“I didn’t have a lot of expectations coming into year one … and right now, the quality looks much better than I thought it would be,” Harris stated. He continued, “The men’s team, I think, is going to be competitive in year one … we’ll have probably five of the top ten hurdlers in the conference right away.”
It is never easy to compete with the best athletes and teams in the conference, and doing it in the first year of a program seems like a daunting task. But this Golden Bear team has been working hard all off-season and is hopeful they can win.
The creation of the track team at WNE has provided students with the opportunity to pursue something that has never been possible before. The Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams have been running for a while, and this new program gives those runners a chance to continue competing in yet another season. It also opens the door for so many other students on campus.
“We had twenty cross-country runners, and we have seventy track athletes now; about fifteen of those are carryovers. So that’s a whole other group that has never had this chance,” said Harris.
The addition of the Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams will also attract many high school track and field athletes who may not have been considering WNE as a school to attend. Fallon Lynch, a first-year student and member of the new Track and Field team, emphasized what it meant to her to be able to continue running at the collegiate level.
“I think being able to go to a college where I can continue the sport that I like and be able to have my major that isn’t as common is definitely special,” said Lynch.
Many high school students struggle to find universities that can provide both their ideal sport and major, but with the creation of two more varsity-level sports at Western New England University, the school can recruit a whole new population of student-athletes.
The launch of the Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams at Western New England University marks a historic moment for the school, giving athletes the opportunity to compete at a level that was once out of reach. As the team prepares for its first collegiate competition, the excitement and dedication from both coaches and athletes are evident. With a strong foundation in place and a promising group of competitors, WNE is set to make an impact not only in its conference, but in the broader track and field community, as well.
Beyond competition, the program’s introduction will continue to open doors for future student-athletes, shaping the university’s athletic legacy for years to come. WNE runners will be on their mark, getting set, and going forward to chase success both in their future careers – and now on the track, too.
