Track and field, by nature an individual sport, fosters internal and external motivation. The team’s athletes spend their days striving toward personal goals while also supporting each other, understanding that their successes contribute to the larger team effort.
“The team culture is divided between groups for different events, but happily united under the name ‘track and field,’” Fourth Form captain Alex Dardarian said.
If nothing else, the team is unified by the work ethic and support systems that they built into their routines. Pole Vault Coach Mr. Christopher Fox noted that track and field is a grueling sport, but that camaraderie forms around shared truths.
“Everyone knows it’s hard,” Mr. Fox said. “Track is every other sport’s punishment.”
The effort that each athlete puts into his event is a facet of Head Coach Mr. James Hawkins’s program.
“The team culture is made up of a philosophy which brings about work, belief, and a willingness to adopt a concept that works for the entire team. These concepts helped our team understand why we compete,” Coach Hawkins said.
The individualism of hard work—a quality that Coach Hawkins impresses upon the team as a whole—is one of the most challenging aspects of the sport.
“Track is difficult because you have to rely on yourself because all the results are based on the work you put in. No one else is responsible for your progress.”
Jey Brown ’24
“Track is difficult because you have to rely on yourself because all the results are based on the work you put in. No one else is responsible for your progress,” Fifth Form Team Captain Jey Brown said.
But despite the individual responsibility that track and field demands, the team is supportive.
“[The culture] helps the team perform because teammates are always available to cheer during meets and push you to be better,” Dardarian said.
Mr. Fox added that the team relies on a support system from its older athletes.
“[The events] are all going on at the same time, so there’s no way that the coaches can be at every event at the same time helping guys, so that begins to fall on the older guys and team captains. So it is a team effort in that way,” Mr. Fox said.
Coach Hawkins set three main objectives for the season, one of which focuses on camaraderie and support. Coach Hawkins’s other objectives were more material, such as “Learn your event” and “Exceed your height, distance, or time (even if it was measured by a hair).”
“Every student athlete exceeded all expectations and even reached goals that didn’t seem realistic until next year,” Coach Hawkins said. “I am super proud of how our team responded to adversities and challenges that we didn’t see coming. I’m proud of our young student athletes who believed in the process and allowed every inch to work for them. I’m also proud of how every student athlete represented The Haverford School and how each virtue of the school worked as a tool and stepping stone of balance.”
Mr. Fox also shared his pride in the team, specifically noting the young athletes who grew throughout the season.
“To see a young guy who was maybe a little clumsy at first kind of hit his stride, there’s always that kind of hope for the future,” Mr. Fox said. “As a teacher or coach, that’s what keeps us in the business.”
In addition to a strong culture and work ethic, the track and field team boasts solid results. The team placed second at States, earning gold medals in three events, and fourth at Inter-Acs, earning gold medals in two events.
The team hopes to continue its positive results and continue to improve. Next year Brown wants to place first at the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association event and win at Penn Relays.
“I want to break some more records too,” Brown said. “That was fun.”
Coach Hawkins plans to continue building a successful and hard-working team.
“I love the growth of our program, and I love taking part in the tradition of preparing boys for life.”
Coach James Hawkins
“I love this team,” Coach Hawkins said. “I love the growth of our program, and I love taking part in the tradition of preparing boys for life.”
