Year after year, Londonderry High School has girls’ winter and spring track teams which vie with the very best in the state for top spots in regular season and post-season meets. And longtime LHS track coach Suzanne Johnson’s key message to her athletes has long been the same, with an eye to maximizing the talent on the roster and the team’s hopes for success.
“There needs to be a clear, singular vision presented by all the coaches and a big buy-in from all our student-athletes,” said the coach. This spring, the veteran mentor has a Lady Lancer outdoor crew which appears to be extremely versatile and all kinds of ready to try to build upon the 2016 team’s 5-1 regular season record and fourth place finish at the Division I championship meet. “We have the balance between veterans and rookies, between field and track events, and a good number of supporting competitors from all four grade levels. We all need to be on our game and do our job,” said Johnson, who has taught and coached at Londonderry High since the 1980’s.
The coach expects Pinkerton Academy and Bedford High to be among the top teams in D-I this spring, but there’s certainly no reason to count the Lady Lancers out. The veteran returnees include seniors Keira Fitzmaurice (middle distances), Devyn Enright (versatile), Lexy Freire (versatile), Ellie Goodspeed (sprints), Lyndsey Guenther (throws), Gretchen McGrath (versatile), Elizabeth Stubbs (mids), and Bella Ziolek (versatile).
The junior returnees include Jess Brien (versatile), Gianna DelViscovo (pole vault), Jill Doris (sprints and jumps), Addie Garofalo (throws), Kalin Gregoire (mids), Emily Lagasse (sprints), Kaylie Longua (versatile), Kiara Quitayen (sprints and jumps), Alex Seeley (mids), and Kiera Wright (throws).
Among the sophomore returnees are Maddy Croteau (versatile), Brittany Fernandez (sprints and jumps), Julia Fothergill (sprints and jumps), Hunter Langley (throws), Ashley Lynch (sprints), Suzie Moore (versatile), Theresa Nickerson (versatile), Alivia Proulx (versatile), Kaelyn Rourke (mids), and Paige Velie (throws).
And the list of skilled freshmen includes Caitlin Boufford (mids), Jasmine Brown (versatile), Julia Ethier (versatile), Makenzie Gagne (throws), Alexis Groulx (sprints and jumps), Juliana Hamel (sprints), Molly Lagasse (throws), Lilly Law (mids), Cailey McDonough (mids), McKenna Muldoon (sprints and jumps), Celia Ponto (sprints and jumps), Gillian Vilela (versatile), and Akolam Wambu (throws).
“We are very enthusiastic about the new team members we have and the abilities, skills, and great attitudes they have brought to our team,” said coach Johnson. The Lady Lancers were expected to get their 2017 season officially started this past Tuesday the 11th at home against Concord, but field conditions forced the cancellation of that event.