After a half-dozen straight years of winning performance, we’ve become accustomed in Harvard to excellence from the Bromfield girls cross country and track teams. If you look at the Wiki entry for Bromfield on the Web, you’ll find about a quarter of it covers the achievements of this team, going back to the early 1990s with the all-American standout performances of Lynn Jennings, and later with Arianna Lambie. This year is no different: we won the division, the districts, second place in the state championships (we lost by a single point), third place in the U.S. Nationals 4×1-mile relay, and other outstanding, record-setting individual and team performances from Emily Jones and several others. If you haven’t been to a meet, you really should check one out next fall—they’re fun and truly exciting.
What’s perhaps not as well-known outside of the team and its parents is the quality and impact of the overall experience for our kids, in large part due to the leadership and skill of Coach Henry Phelan. It’s not just the wins, or the records, but also seeing the kids’ positive attitude, work ethic, and the way the older girls mentor, inspire, and help motivate the younger ones to continue the tradition of excellence, while also volunteering their time helping with nonteam events that makes me a proud supporter of the teams. Certainly, a lot of the credit goes to the parents and the kids themselves, who are great. But anyone who’s hung around the track or gone to meets has noticed that Henry’s easy-going style and rapport, which seems to mesh so well with the kids’ natural desires, makes a strong contribution. We shouldn’t overlook that, and we should do everything we can to keep coaches like Henry, including providing equitable pay, resources, and the support needed to continue such an excellent program, which isn’t easy to do when our town budget offers zero support for our sports teams.
I hope all of Bromfield’s sports teams are equally fortunate to produce these quality results, in addition to wins and records. Congratulations and thanks to Henry, assistant Coach Ray Dunn, and the whole team, for a fantastic year, and best wishes for an even better 2008–2009.
Tom Gormley
Ann Lee Road
