By Joyce DeWallace, Contributing Writer
Shrewsbury – “Going to Nationals doesn’t happen too often at Shrewsbury High School, and I’m happy to be a part of it and happy for the rest of the guys,” said senior Ethan Melia. “A key thing this season was being persistent, not giving up, and giving 100 percent every day. No matter how we finish, we kept fighting to reach the next levels.”
Four members of the boys’ winter track team are headed to New York City for a national meet Friday, March 13, in the 4-by-200-meter relay. Shrewsbury had a big victory in the Midland A League championship meet in Fitchburg in early February, winning the Central Mass Division 1 title over longtime rival Wachusett. They then competed at States and All-States to lead up to the chance to compete at Nationals.
“It’s been a very long season,” senior Alex Chin noted. “This year has been incredible. We have a core group of guys with great chemistry; we’re good friends. I think that’s played a major part in us going so far.”
The team is comprised of 88 members, according to Coach Kurt Gustafson, a physical education teacher in his second year coaching indoor track. No one is cut.
“This season was special,” he said. “We’ve only been district champs two times before. We got it this year, and I’m incredibly proud of having young men do so well. Many of them will be back to do outdoor track this spring.”
Erik King, a junior, said, “It’s been pretty incredible to do this with all my track mates who are seniors and the rest of the team that has great experience. We broke school records in both the 4-by-200-meter relay and the 4-by-400-meter relay. It’s a great feeling to have your name as part of the school history.”
Senior Dan Liubovich hopes to run track at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
“I think it was really special for me because I was hurt last year with a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament injury), he said. “I had to have surgery and months of rehab. To come back and have such a great year is amazing. We had a lot of goals. We worked really hard. We managed to achieve it.”
Coach Gustafson leads by example. He ran both indoor and outdoor track when he was a student at Shrewsbury High, played sports at the University of Connecticut, and still loves to run. He is often spotted on the streets and fields of Shrewsbury with his training companion Axel, a large Alaskan malamute. He competed in the National Snowshoe Championship 10K race in Vermont, and hopes to compete in the future at the Masters Division in the decathlon.
The track team set several school records this winter in spite of all the complications from the mountains of snow that cancelled and postponed meets. Ethan Melia ran 8.07 seconds in the 55-meter hurdles. Mike Abasciano set a long jump record of 20 feet, 3 inches. The 4-by-200-meter relay team ran its race in 1 minute, 32.99 seconds, and the 4-by-400-meter relay team added another new record of 3 minutes, 28.8 seconds.