“It takes one race to spark a fire,” said Rowan women’s indoor track & field Head Coach Derick “Ringo” Adamson following his squad’s most recent performance at the Albany Great Dane Invite. 

With the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship races a month away, improvement and momentum are the endgame in Coach Adamson’s mind.

The runners were able to show that kind of promise, literally, as Promise Fadahunsi, a senior, set a personal record in the 200 meter race with a time of 26.06. Fadahunsi also managed to secure a qualifying mark of 8.05 in the 60 meter preliminaries for the All-Atlantic Region Track & Field Conference (AARTFC). 

Qualification for the AARTFC was also in the cards for Nicole Notarianni, also a senior, finishing at 9.26 in the 60 meter hurdles. Fellow seniors Olivia Scattergood and Makayla Taylor’s efforts yielded similar results, with weight throws that reached distances of 15.54 and 15.13 meters respectively.

The tandem of junior Amanthy Sosa Caceres and freshmen Molly Lodge, Jasmine Broadway and Nevaeh Lorjuste continued the team’s streak of success, clocking in at 4.01.75 in the 4×400 and securing an AARTFC berth like their teammates before them.

The icing on the proverbial cake was provided by junior Nicole Bertollo and senior Mahon McClenahan in the lon- distance department. For Bertollo, she set a season-best time in the 800 meter race at 2.35.44. As for McClenahan, her 1.26.17 finish in the 500 meter contest was her second-best showing thus far.

Thanks to a continuation of hard work and sacrifice, Coach Adamson’s squad is seeing the results of their efforts each and every week. Ringo had a unique anecdote to inspire his squad throughout their preparation process.

“With all the snow covering the track, we had to think on our feet and to focus on what we do have, not what we don’t have,” Coach Adamson said. “I mentioned to them all the obstacles the Jamaican hockey team has to face to play, and they live on an island with no ice.”

As always, these moments are way bigger than sports for Coach Adamson. Rather, these are the moments where resilience triumphs over adversity.

“Everything that they’re going through teaches them so much about life,” Coach Adamson said. “It builds great character, and one day, these girls are gonna meet their destiny and be prepared for that moment.” 

Perhaps Coach Ringo is a bit of a visionary, especially considering how Olivia Scattergood managed to fulfill that with her performance this week. The key to her success was getting back to the basics.

“That’s where I really started to find my technique and my speed,” Scattergood said. “I was feeling much more confident last week and that helped me go into the meet with a better mindset and just feeling stronger overall.”

Because of that strong mindset and razor-sharp focus, Scattergood earned NJAC Women’s Track & Field Athlete of the Week. Afterwards, feelings of gratitude were flowing.

“It was actually super rewarding to receive that weekly honor,” Scattergood said. “Being number two behind Makayla [Taylor] right now is really exciting, especially with NJACs only being a couple weeks away. We love being able to motivate each other and we are looking to put up some big numbers and score points for the team to bring home a championship this season.”

Maintaining that level of drive, passion, and commitment will be the key to the Profs’ success as the conference meets draw near. Their next opportunity to build and grow will be the Ithaca College Bomber Invite on Saturday, Feb. 5.

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