Q&A: Girls’ indoor track captain reflects on track career, team’s season

Senior Rosa Daeipour is one of five team captains

Senior+captain+Rosa+Daeipour+gets+ready+to+participate+in+the+shot+put+at+Groton+Dunstable.+

Submitted Rosa Daeipour

Senior captain Rosa Daeipour gets ready to participate in the shot put at Groton Dunstable.

Kara Soloman, Staff Writer

How did the regular season go? How did the team as a whole do?

“[The team] went 2-2 in the regular season. We beat Shepard Hill and Leominster but lost to Shrewsbury and Wachusett which are always hard meets for us. We had a lot of new freshmen who came in this year and definitely had a huge impact on our team and scored us a lot of points. The team had a lot of different strengths in almost every event so it was awesome to have a variety of events we could score points in and I think that’ll definitely follow through into the outdoor season too.”

 

What athletes specifically had a large impact on the season?

“[Freshmen] Danielle DeFeudis, Izzy Little, and Shannon Judge all did really well this season. Christina DeFeudis became one of our fastest short sprinters. [Junior] Laura Dunderdale did really well being our number one hurdler and part of our 4 by 200 team with [sophomore] Taylor Stevens, and [seniors] Olivia Giles and Emily Hong. [Senior] Hannah Hu led us in high scoring points in [almost] all of our meets with [junior] Tess Reyes, who scored points in every meet in the distance events.”

 

What sparked your interest in running track?

“So [Algonquin] had a track camp and that’s when I first started getting involved in track. It was a really good experience because you got to work with the actual athletes who compete and participate in the program. My brother did track and being able to go to track camp to see how it is definitely got me really interested in it.”

 

What position/ races do you take part in?

“In indoor [track], I do the 55 and shot put. And, if they need me to, the 4 by 2 [relay event in which teams comprise four runners who each complete 200 metres on a standard 400 metre track]. In outdoor [track], my main event is javelin, but I’ll also do the short sprints and sometimes shot put. And, if I’m lucky, triple jump.”

 

What are your main motivations when competing and how do you continue to motivate yourself and others?

“Track is a big team sport, but it is also very individual, so a lot of the time my motivation is just in an effort to better myself. There are people from other towns that I can compete with and I know I can beat, so that really helps to push me to try and get a personal record (PR), win a meet, or an event.”

 

What do you think are your biggest personal and team challenges?

“I’m really small (said with laughter)! I’m a thrower, and there are all these big girls that can throw. We compete against really good teams like Wachusett so that’s always a challenge and we have to always work around who we are going to put where because you can’t have people overlapping. You can only have a certain amount of people and events per person, so trying to plan out the best way to get the best results is always hard.”

 

Could you describe some of the new responsibilities that come along with being a team captain?

“For this year and last year specifically, because we were the upperclassmen, we [Daeipour and fellow captains Hannah Hu, Emily Hong, Olivia Giles, Bridget Brady and Caleigh Donovan] have to take a much bigger role so a lot of the times if our coach isn’t there, we step up and we help the freshmen or the underclassmen with where they need to be for their events. When you first come [to a meet], it’s very hectic and you might not know when your race is, when you need to be somewhere, or how to check in with your official that you’re going to do a race. A lot of the time we also try to lead by example and just getting involved in any way we can. Since our coaching staff is fairly small, we almost take on a coaching position and teach whoever we can whenever we can when the coaches are working with other groups. A lot of the time it’s just doing what you can to help out the team.”

 

What have been your major highlights/ achievements in track?

“My sophomore year we had our districts meet and that was the first time I broke 100ft [in javelin]. I was very anxious because I was a young sophomore and I ended up placing third which was awesome. Also, my sophomore year and junior year we placed first in the relay for javelin in the relay meet which was a big deal because that was something we wanted my freshman year and we knew it was something that we could reach. We ended up getting [first place] by a lot so it was awesome to be able to do that and work with other people.”

 

Do you have a specific pre game, post game routine you do before or after every meet?

“A lot of my superstitions come from right before I do something. I have to step into the shot put circle with my left foot, and then I raise the ball and do three taps [with my foot] on the ground, [then three more] taps on the ground. I always find one specific place everywhere I go to look when I’m throwing. For javelin, I have a little routine where I’ll stretch and then walk in, and then stretch again, and then pull my arm back. I wear the same clothes every meet. I can’t wear something else. I always have to wear the same spandex, the same socks, same sports bra.”

 

Is there anything else you would like to share?

“We are a pretty solid team. We may have not had the best season we could’ve had in the last couple of years, but we have a lot of really good athletes and a lot of good underclassmen that are really showing us what they are made of and making a name for themselves [while] getting us points that we didn’t necessarily think we would get. I think this season we’ve been able to become a lot closer [as a team]. A lot of seasons you have your friends, but not really everyone is one big team. It felt like this season, a lot of people are able to get along really well and right now in the postseason, everyone you see on the bus and everyone you see at practice is all of the people you are friends with and you want to go talk to them and hangout with them. It’s a good time.”