Basketball players Sophie Gatzounas, Meikkel Murray find their place on the track

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

@kylegrbwsk

Published: 05-26-2017 11:26 PM

SOUTH HADLEY — South Hadley’s Sophie Gatzounas and Amherst Regional’s Meikkel Murray started their track and field careers with trial and error.

With some nudging from their track coaches, both senior 1,000-point basketball scorers joined their respective team as a way to stay in shape for the hardwood.

“She was asking how she could get bigger, stronger, faster,” South Hadley coach Nick Davis said. “That is track. That’s the goal.”

Gatzounas is competing in track for a second straight season, while Murray joined the Hurricanes for the first time this spring. After some initial hiccups, they found events that fit them. Both will be No. 1 seeds at this weekend’s Central/West championship meets.

Gatzounas tops the Division 2 girls javelin field at 128 feet, 2 inches. She only started throwing a few weeks before last year’s divisional meet. A parent initially pointed out that Gatzounas played goalie for the Tigers’ soccer team and can throw the ball far, so maybe she could throw a javelin.

“It’s a lot harder than it looks,” Gatzounas said. “I picked it up thinking it was like just chucking a spear, but there’s a lot of technique and form to it.”

Murray is the No. 1 seed in the Division 1 boys triple jump at 45 feet, 3 inches. He’s only triple jumped for a few weeks after trying both the long and high jumps.

“At first I didn’t really like the triple jump. I didn’t know technique,” Murray said. “Coach told me I didn’t have to worry about learning it so quickly.”

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Amherst coach David Thompson reached back into his arsenal to help him out. He invited former Amherst athletes Tchuijo Nkamebo and JJ Sylla to work with Murray on some of the finer points.

Nkamebo “was able to get him the rhythm and how to do it,” Thompson said. “He was able to pick it up.”

Murray still has some learning to do, though.

“I think he jumped further than 45-3. That mark was from his hand,” Thompson said. “Every newcomer makes the mistake of putting his hand down.”

Murray’s development as a track athlete has resembled Gatzounas’ from last season.

Both started track to stay in shape for basketball and began as athletic blank slates. Gatzounas cycled through events before finding ones that fit her.

“We didn’t know where she was going to end up for events,” Davis said.

The Tigers coaching staff started her in events that would take advantage of her natural basketball skills: jumps and sprints. They even built her high jump form off of how she shoots layups.

“She’s already filled with fast-twitch muscle fibers, and all the events she does really well are based on fast twitch,” Davis said.

Thompson followed a similar blueprint with Murray. He let him try his legs all around the track and in the field before he settled into jumps and sprints.

“I really didn’t think I knew what I wanted to do,” Murray said. “Trying out different events and seeing what events are comfortable for me was a good thing for me.”

His progress hasn’t gone unnoticed. American International College has reached out to Thompson to ask about Murray’s track future, and UMass has shown interest.

“I’m trying to show him how you can open another door if you really wanted to,” Thompson said. “He was willing to learn, to be coached. That’s what’s good about him, he’s willing to be coached.”

Murray’s still a basketball player at heart. He plans to attend prep school next year before pursuing hoops in college.

“Basketball is still my first love,” he said.

Gatzounas has room in her heart for track, too. She’s committed to Navy to play basketball next year but is considering the idea of doing both. The Midshipmen’s top javelin throw this season was 113-6, or more than a foot shorter than was Gatzounas has produced.

Regardless of how long she continues with the sport, Gatzounas has gained an appreciation for its nuances.

“Track is hard. I’ll always be a basketball player figuring things out, faking it until I make it,” she said. “I’m kind of winging this whole track thing. It’s kind of working, it’s kind of fun.”

Division 1

Northampton will look to build off of its boys District F&G championship with three top seeds at the Central/West meet at Fitchburg State. (Pole vault starts at 9 a.m., followed by the meet at 10 a.m.)

Nik Smith is No. 1 in the 100-meter dash (10.86 seconds) and 200 (22.61). Cole Lavalle leads the 400 hurdles field at 56 seconds.

The Blue Devils’ 4x100-meter relay is seeded second at 43.49, as is its 4x400 at 3:27.31.

Benjamin Gordon-Sniffen will be the third seed in the 800 at 1:56.91.

Amherst’s only top seed outside of Murray is its 4x800 relay at 8:17.19.

Aiden Foucault-Etheridge will be second in the 800 at 1:56.34, while Zachary Ellis is second in the javelin at 161-07.

Andre Shepard has the No. 3 seed in the 200 at 22.3.

On the girls side, Sophia Jacobs-Townsley has the third-fastest seed time in the girls mile at 5:16.57.

The Hurricanes’ 4x8 is also third at 10:09.68. Northampton’s girls 4x8 has the top seed at 10:05.77.

Emma Harder is the No. 2 seed in the 100 at 12.6 and the third seed in the 200 at 26.16.

Division 2

The Tigers’ relays will be key to their attempt at another title after winning District F&G. The Central/West meet is at Westfield State. (Pole vault starts at 9 a.m., followed by the meet at 10 a.m.)

South Hadley is seeded second in the 4x8 (9:59.7), 4x1 (52.30) and 4x4 (4:11.96).

“I think the way that our lineup is written for Saturday, it allows us to have one of the fastest 4x4s that this school and town will ever see,” Davis said.

Savannah Sudyka is seeded second in the shot put at 35-09.5.

Sarah Fudger is the third seed in the girls 400 meter hurdles.

Melissa Gagnon will be No. 3 in the girls pole vault at 9 feet for Hampshire.

Sean O’Grady will be No. 7 in both the 100 (11.4) and 200 (23.4) for the Tigers’ boys team.

Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.

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