INDOOR TRACK & FIELD

The winter track and field season saw its share of historic performances this season: from the boys runner-up finish at states, to Lilly Versen ’24 jumping to a state title in long jump to the boys 4x200m relay racing their way to the top of the podium.

“We had a group of athletes that wanted to break school records to maximize our team's point scoring potential,” interim head coach Marcus Jones ’00 said. “Having athletes win league and state championships is always memorable.” Jones, in his 13th season of coaching winter track, took the helm this season on an interim basis to help in the coaching transition.

What he oversaw was a program that contributed record-breaking performances. Lilly Versen ’24 broke her own school record and was the LIS and state champion in the long jump with a leap of 17’3.5”. Sister Lucy Versen ’26 broke the school record in the pole vault by clearing 9’0”. The elder Versen was also part of the new school record-setting 4x200m girls relay team, including Logan Snyder ’24, Eila Crumlish ’25 and Julia Pollard ’24, with a time of 1:52.73.

On the boys side, the boys 4 x 200 relay team of William Hoffler ’24, Nathan Sims ’24, Deuce Edwards ’24, and Cornell Allen ’24 were Prep League and VISAA state champions with a speedy time of 1:30.91. Edwards, Hoffler and Sims all set new school records in the hurdles (Edwards), 200m (Hoffler), 300m (Sims) and long jump (Sims) respectively.

In league postseason action, the girls finished 4th in LIS and the boys wrapped up their season 3rd in the Prep League. At the VISAA State Championships, the girls posted an 11th place performance out of 24 teams while the boys were state runners-up, representing the highest finish for boys winter track in school history.

The girls were led by Lilly Versen who was the high scorer and recorded wins throughout the winter in both the jumps and the sprinters. Other key contributors for the girls were Lucy Versen ’26, Lily Jennette ’23, Sarah Coleman ’23 and Lainie Murray ’23.

In looking to next year, Jones has high hopes for the program and its future success. “The team will return a lot of talent next year,” Jones said. “Especially the boys. They’ll have a good opportunity to compete for championships.”

Swimming

If you ask fifth-year head coach Tim Johnson where the trajectory of Titans swim and dive is headed, he’ll answer with an emphatic, “We’re on the up!” As with so much else, COVID affected the development and pipeline for the future of Trinity swimming — but momentum and energy is building with a strong foundation of young talent on campus.

In the 2022-23 season, both the boys and girls teams concluded their seasons in the top five of their respective leagues: 5th place for the boys in the prep league while the girls took 4th in LIS. Five captains took the helm in leading the Titans to six top-five finishes in meets during the season: Nick Clopton ’23, Nathaniel Milligan ’23, Anna Gorey ’23, Ann-Sidney Ragsdale ’23 and Caroline Roberts ’23. Giulia Gardiner ’24 captained the dive team.

“Do More. Dream Bigger. Defy Expectations.” Those three phrases were the bedrock for the season on which the Titans leaned. Nobody embodied that more than junior Patrick Puzon ’25. Named All-Prep League and All-State, Puzon broke the school record in the 50m freestyle with a blazing time of 20.87 seconds. One of the most defining moments of the season came at the state meet in Lynchburg. Giulia Gardiner ’24 took home a 6th-place finish while Brooke Bailey ’24 and Marcy Mortimer ’24 put together competitive races to set up the relays which sealed the girls’ top-five finish at states. The boys faced adversity with unexpected illness at the state meet but rallied for 7th place.

“Don't sleep on Trinity Swim & Dive,” Johnson said. “We're slowly working our way back to the top of the state.”