by Jamie Harris
The 2024 spring track and field season is here and the Berkeley Springs High School Indians have new head coach as Michael Powell takes over the program. Powell was a standout high school athlete where he competed in the pole vault, ran in sprint relays and shuttle hurdles. Powell pole vaulted at West Virginia as well. Over the years Powell has assisted in helping teach Indian pole vaulters the skills needed for the event.
Assisting Powell this season are Meghan Powell, Ashley Griffin, Ian Helmick, John Rowland and Seth Place.
The Indians lost senior all- state runners Jackson Mundey (400 and 800 meters and 4×400 meter relay), Ben Golden (200 meters and 4×400 meter relay) and Isaac Harris (4×400 meter relay) to graduation. Along with foreign exchange student state qualifier Ettore Boscoe (pole vault). Another member from last year’ s all-state 4×400 meter relay team elected not to come out this season.
Returning for the Indians are state qualifiers Jillian Fortney (pole vault), Stephanie Briscoe (discus), Audrey Helmick (800, 1600 and 3200 meters), Dakota Hamrick (pole vault and state runner-up). Also looking to help out Berkeley Springs will be Melissa Seabright (sprints), Delilah Rhoten (hurdles), Tenacious Ray (sprints), Avi Ambrose (pole vault and hurdles), Lukas Purdy (shot and discus), Gabe Miller (shot and discus), LJ Sealey (mid-distance) and Clara Payne (shot).
Berkeley Springs will have a strong freshman and sophomore class that should pick up points throughout the meets. The Indians will have some upperclassman who are out and will be a big addition to the program Doug Smith, Jacob Shekey, Javier Hernanz and Changjae Yun.
Also new to the Indians track program will be a freshman track team that will be made up of Warm Springs Middle School eighth graders and current BSHS ninth graders.
“I am excited for my first year as a track coach and looking forward to seeing all the athletes improve,” stated Coach Powell.
