Beavers also showed well at state level

By Chris Villani

As in all sports, one of the primary goals for any track and field coach is to see his team peak at the right time of the season. That was the case for Blackstone Valley Tech head coach Colton Cox this year, who watched as the Beavers steadily improved through an unbeaten dual meet campaign and strong finishes at the league and state meets.

“Overall, it was a very, very good season,” Cox said. “They peaked at the correct time. One of the biggest struggles in coaching track is we want our kids to peak when it matters the most and see the majority of the team just get better and better.”

Cox said the coaching staff was “thrilled” to see the jumps from meet-to-meet. “It was quite a special season for that,” he said.

Valley Tech placed third at the Colonial Athletic League meet and placed second at the state vocational meet despite missing some key athletes.

Senior Soumith Madadi broke the school record in the 800 meter and took home a state title in that event at the divisional meet. He also qualified for states in the mile, and helped solidify the 4x800 relay team.

BVT had another state champ this year in junior Kenny Kalvinek, who took first place in the discus and added a fourth-place finish in the shot put. Kalvinek set BVT program records in both events.

Another junior, Sam Stringer, captured first-place finishes in the 100 meter dash all season and advanced to the state divisional meet in both the 100 and 200 meter events. He was also part of the state-qualifying 4x100 relay team that also included senior Landon Parent, junior Alex Burgos, and sophomore Troy Rudder.

In the hurdles, Jonah Rosenkrantz capped off a strong career by medaling in the state vocational meet and the CAL championships.

“He has been a big hurdler for us over the last four years,” Cox said. “It’s going to be sad to see him go, because he gets us a lot of points.”

BVT is bringing back a number of strong athletes, including Rudder and fellow sophomore sprinter Andrew Noble. Distance runner Aaron Korpi and middle distance runners Nathan Taylor and Ryan May are also athletes Cox said will be ones to watch in the coming seasons. Improvement and injury avoidance will be crucial to their development, he added.

“As coaches, our goal is to stay healthy physically,” Cox said. “This has been the best year health-wise for all of our kids. Physical health is always a priority.”