HS girls track: Montville makes it a three-peat

In the past two years, it has been relatively easy for the Montville girls track team in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Medium Division.
Not so this season.
“We had a little rough start to the season and were trying to figure out what kind of team this would be,” Montville coach Joel Finnegan said.
“The last two years, we’ve taken hits through graduation and are not nearly as deep as we were,” he added.
But what they lack in depth, they have made up for in talent and determination.
Shatajah Wattely has provided the talent.
She helped Montville to 20 of its points in its 83-66 win over Bacon Academy that gave the Indians their third-straight Medium Division crown.
Wattely won the 100m, 200m and 400m races and was a member of the winning 4x400m relay team. In the process, she broke her personal best by almost a full second in the 200-meter. The success this year, she’s the top-seeded sprinter in all three races going into the ECC championship next Saturday at Montville High, has her thinking big.
“I want to run in college, I want to go to the Olympics — that’s my future, future goal,” Wattely laughed.
The determination has been provided by the likes of runners like Rachael Skinner.
“We used to be able to throw a number of distance runners out there, (Friday) we had Rachael running the 4x800, the 1,600m, the 800 and the 3,200. That’s asking a lot from a kid and she never complains, just gives us everything she has.”
Mandy Joyce also provided some points with second-place finishes in the javelin and high jump — where top performer Amanda Giroux was unavailable due to an injury suffered in the hurdles — and a third in the triple jump.
“We’ve had to rely upon fewer kids and they’ve really responded,” Finnegan said. “A month ago, Bacon was better than us and we’ve really made tremendous strides in the last month.”