Fourteen members of the Mascenic track and field team complete the berserker challenge this past Tuesday afternoon at the Hollis Brookline track complex. “It’s a rite of passage,” exclaimed senior Briana Boulerice, “You’re not happy doing it but you’re happy when it’s over.”
The berserker challenge requires the athlete to take on the four longest distances in high school track, the 1600, the 800, the 3200 and the 4×400 relay. The mileage on the track alone is just under four miles, not to mention all the warming up and cooling down an athlete will need to run competitively. “The goal is to run all the events as tough as you can,” reiterates Mascenic coach Mike Smith, “the goal is to have nothing left by the end.”
The tradition goes back ten years when Smith witnessed some athletes from another team in all the longest events.
“I talked to their coach and said he wasn’t very nice to torture his kids that way, and he explained that he had some seniors going away for a senior trip and he wanted to get a solid workout in before they took three days off. I did some research and physiologically it makes some sense for an athlete to work real hard, empty the aerobic tank all the way to zero, and take a few days easy to build back up stronger. I look ahead in the season to where it fits on the calendar and we mark it on the calendar.”
Smith insists that the athletes go hard, in order to get a training stimulus, rather than simply jog their way through it.
“We’ve seen many PRs come out of the berserker. The kids are primed by that time in the season and the excitement of the workout jazzes them up.”
Smith insists it’s not the right thing for all kids, but for those kids that have been putting in the work, it can pay big dividends. “They begin to learn what they are truly made of, they learn what they are capable enduring.” For some kids the learning is more important than others.
“I’ve been trying to break five minutes in the mile all season,” remarked freshman runner Logan Thibault, “but I’ve only been able to get close. I ran a five second PR and finished in 4:56. I also ran my two mile PR in the process. I wouldn’t have believed that before if you had asked me.”
For others, having been in the program for a bit longer, they know what to expect but it doesn’t always mean that they like it.
“I really wasn’t feeling it in the mile today, and when we got to the two mile and the same kid that passed us on the last lap in the mile was seeded right behind us I figured he would just ride us again and pass us on the last lap,” recalled senior Avery Traffie. “But Smith’s yelling to us about if we’re going to do something, figure it out in the next lap. I said ‘what the heck’ and hit the gas. He always says if you’re not feeling it to pick up the pace and the feeling will change.”
And it did. Traffie won the 3200 with team mate Jake Movsessian right behind and the challenger from the mile a distant third. And while not all participants were to see the success of Traffie and Movsessian, who had top five finishes in all their events, they all were able to take that next step in their training, getting closer to their goals for the season.
“It is really fun to watch. Seeing the kids all in, suffering those last final laps of the two mile, then ripping the last 400 hard running on guts and willpower is awesome,” remarked Smith. “This sport can’t be beat when it comes to exposing what you’re really made of, and berserker is the proof of that.”
The ConVal boys’ and girls’ track and field teams also competed at Hollis Brookline on Tuesday. The boys’ team had a solid day finishing second behind Merrimack Valley. The girls’ team took the lead early in the meet and never relinquished it, besting all of their competition.
Placing in field events for the boys were Ryan Murray (1st in shot put, 5th in discus), Liam Baldwin (1st in triple jump, 2nd in discus), and Trevor Hanley (3rd in long jump).
On the track, Daniel Kashulines and Dalton Coyne took home first place in the 400m and 800m runs respectively.
Kashulines and Coyne joined Josh Fulton and Caleb Putnam to win the 4x400m relay with a season best time of 3:38 just 6.5 seconds off the school record.
The girls had a banner day on the field. Senior Lauren LeBritton was 1st in the long jump, and 2nd in the triple and high jump with her three best jumps of the season.
Lily Pabo was 2nd in the long jump in her first attempt at the event.
Ree Bell was 2nd in shot put and 3rd in the discus.
Savanna Hall won the discus and earned 5th in both the shot put and javelin.
Fenia Benet-Higgins won the javelin with teammate Emalee Coutu close behind in 3rd.
On the track, Sawyer Cawthern was 2nd in the 300m hurdles with teammate Lily Pabo two ticks behind in third.
Freshmen Clare Veverka took home a pair of firsts in the 1600 and 800m runs. Lucy Freeman was 2nd in the 3200 run picking up her third state qualifying event. Freeman and Veverka joined Rachel Hurley and Maddy Garland to finish 2nd in the 4x400m relay.
ConVal heads to Souhegan for the Southern Cluster Championship on Tuesday, May 17.