South Hadley junior Emma Sanford’s track career has been anything but ordinary.
As a freshman who had just decided to make the switch from gymnastics to track in high school, the COVID-19 pandemic derailed what was supposed to be her outdoor track debut. The following season, she was able to compete, but things were still different. It wasn’t truly until the most recent season that she was able to compete in a full slate of outdoor competitions.
Despite all the obstacles in her way, Sanford has learned to hurdle past them – literally and figuratively. Sanford was chosen as the Daily Hampshire Gazette’s Girls Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year for 2021-22; Sanford was also the Gazette’s Girls Indoor Track Athlete of the Year this season.
Sanford’s year was one for the history books. The junior collected three titles at the MIAA Division 6 Outdoor Track and Field Championships, winning the high jump, the pentathlon and the 100-meter hurdles. The hurdles were still a relatively new event for Sanford, but she’s taken the event and run with it – Sanford’s championship time of 15.16 seconds also broke a 30-year school record. Sanford was pleased with the result, but like most top athletes, thinks she still has room for improvement.
“I still feel like I have more to learn because I’ve gotten a lot more consistent, but my form is still not very great. It’s good, but it’s not the best,” Sanford said. “I think once I get that down, it’ll go a lot better but it’s still not there.”
Where Sanford has truly shined for South Hadley is in the multi-events. The South Hadley star is one of the most versatile competitors in the area, and every season adds another event or three to her repertoire. This year, she picked up the javelin and the 200-meter run so that she could compete in the heptathlon for the first time; she’s become a regular in the pentathlon in years past, but why not see what else she’s capable of?
“Toward the beginning of the season, my coach was like, ‘oh, there’s like an Invite where we can go to the (heptathlon)’… because the heptathlon is an outdoor event, I was like, ‘I’ll just do that one,” Sanford said.
Though familiar with the 200-meter run, Sanford had never picked up a javelin before and had to adjust, but showed her aptitude once again. The junior qualified for 2022 Nike Outdoor Nationals in the event, traveling to historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. where she placed ninth overall.
“It was really, really cool. It was a really nice experience,” Sanford said on traveling cross-country to compete at nationals. “Being at Hayward was really nice. It was kind of intimidating, but I still had a lot of fun and I PR’d a lot.”
It’s an experience Sanford is starting to get used to – competing at major events like All-States or Nationals, are becoming routine for her, an extension of the season. While the records and the titles and the accolades are nice to have, she’s focused more on the big picture. With a year left in her high school career, she’s started to look at colleges where she can continue to hone her talents in track and field, though she’s not yet sure where that will take her. For now, though, she’s happy that she’s been able to find her niche in track with the multi-events.
“I think I’ve found a home in the multi area, and I really like competing in the pent and the hep,” Sanford said. “I think now there’s not much else I would try, just because I’m really happy with those events.”
FIRST TEAM ALL-STARS
Quincy Biddle, senior, Northampton
Camilla Brewer, freshman, Northampton
Tamar Byl-Brann, junior, Amherst
Yelena Caldanaro, sophomore, Northampton
Veronica Colon, sophomore, Holyoke
Caroline Crocker, junior, Frontier
Kira French, junior, Northampton
Abigail Howard, junior, Frontier
Moriah Luetjen, freshman, Amherst
Esme Marini-Rapoport, senior, Northampton
Norah Reade, junior, Northampton
Kendall Reynolds, senior, Northampton
Anajisa Robinson, senior, Amherst
Sadie Ross, senior, Frontier
Brie Salomao, senior, Hampshire
Elizabeth Sawicki, freshman, Amherst
SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS
Monica Fisher-Piccininno, Northampton, junior
Josie Fosnot, freshman, Frontier
Abigail Gelinas, freshman, South Hadley
Kaiah Gregory, senior, Northampton
Lila Hensley, junior, Northampton
Hannah Mackin, sophomore, Frontier
Sophia Leone, junior, Frontier
Alena Maes-Polan, senior, Frontier
Maeve O’Neil, freshman, Northampton
Lily Shimpach, senior, Northampton
Ayla Starr, junior, Frontier
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Bella Alcaraz, freshman, South Hadley
Siobhan Armstrong, Holyoke, freshman
Francesca Crescentini, Holyoke, junior
Hannah Davis, freshman, Frontier
Tess Geis-Benton, freshman, Northampton
Leah Gump, sophomore, Frontier
Lilly Novak, freshman, Frontier
Isabel Rich, freshman, Amherst
Sadie Ross, senior, Frontier
Evelyn Smith, freshman, Northampton
Summer Sobieski, junior, Frontier
Kaiya Thomas-Rivera, Holyoke, junior
Cadi Wells-Robinson, junior, Frontier
Anna Zamer, junior, Northampton