Rewriting Bulldog History

If you think you hold a Kenmore East Indoor Track record, you might want to doublecheck that.

That’s because sophomores Nick Coburn and John O’Connell and junior Julia Brundin have all broken school records this Indoor Track season.

All the record setting didn’t come as a surprise to Kenmore East Track head coach Tim Metivier, as the three had already reached these marks last outdoor season. But, Metivier is still proud of the work they’ve done to get back to where they left off in the spring.

“It’s not unexpected that they broke these marks”, Metivier said. “But still putting in the effort and getting there is a tremendous achievement.”

Coburn broke the High Jump record this season, reaching the height of 5 feet 10 inches. The sophomore beat the previous mark of 5 feet 8 inches, which was held by Metivier.

“He’s been high jumping for less than a year”, Metivier said. “We always look at the videos after he jumps and I tell him things he needs to work on and he incorporates it in almost right away.”

When Coburn was younger, the thought of doing track let alone breaking a school record never occurred to him.

“My brother (Zach) and I were mostly raised around football. But when Zach got into high school he started running track and it seemed pretty cool”, Coburn said. “The coach then showed me some events that were pretty interesting.”

O’Connell became the Triple Jump record holder when he got 41 feet 2 inches in the event. The previous record of 40 feet 5½ inches that was set in 2002.

“He’s never satisfied with where he is”, Metivier said. “Even though he’s 41-foot triple jumper, he’s still working harder. He’s always working on technique in order to get to the next level.”

Unlike Coburn, O’Connell has been around track almost all his life. Both of O’Connell’s older sisters did track in high school and Grace is currently an assistant track coach at Ken East.

“My older sisters have been a big influence on me. I’ve been going to their meets since I was a little kid”, O’Connell said. “During the summer, I was always in the Ken-Ton track program and they were always competing or coaching.”

Brundin broke the school record for Pole Vault. The junior vaulted 9′ 6″ for the record, beating the previous mark set in 2010 by three inches.

“She works with one of the best pole vault coaches in the state”, Metivier said. “Last year is she was at six feet, now she’s at nine feet, six inches.”

Metivier is amazed at what these young athletes have already done and sees a bright future for them. With less than three weeks to go until State Qualifiers, the head coach is not making any predictions for his new record holders going forward, but he’s not counting them out for anything.

“I cleared my weekend for the State championships”, Metivier said.

Kenmore East has not had any state qualifiers since 2013.