Jordan Bean, former JV Morgan Boys Basketball coach and teacher at the Morgan School, has officially taken over as head coach for indoor track and field this season, alongside Thomas Cosgriff, following the departure of Coach Jaime “Tone” Serrano.
Bean took over on the 8th of December, just a month away from the first meet. He knew he had to learn about each one of the runners’ skills and attributes quickly to make up for lost time. The returning players were shocked after Coach Tone’s departure, but they were ready to come back and begin a new chapter for the team.
Colton Landino, a junior at Morgan and captain of the indoor track team, shared, “It was unfortunate that our previous coach (Tone) had some issues, and that caused the team to need another one. Coach Bean has done an amazing job stepping in and taking the role as coach, and Coach Cosgriff has, too. They both have a lot of experience in the sports and track communities and can help the athletes.”
Although Bean had experience as the outdoor track coach for Westbrook, indoor track is a completely different environment. “With 10 years of outdoor track experience at Westbrook, indoor has proven to be a completely different animal for me. The events are different: different distances, different relay rules, different qualifying times and distances. It has really been like learning another sport in some ways,” Bean said.
Bean will still progress and grow as a coach, but he has faced some challenges in preparation for the first meet. “The weather and lack of space at times for practices have also been a challenge that we have all faced with patience and resilience. However, the challenge of taking on some events that I was not accustomed to, such as long distance and the 4×200, has given me a chance to continue to grow as a coach,” Bean said.
Throughout these past couple of weeks, Bean has seen a lot of improvement in his team, in all aspects of the sport, such as the different events and lengths of each race, for each runner. “As coaches, we have seen massive improvements already in regards to run mechanics with the sprint and plyometric drills that we have put in place. We look stronger and more poised than at the start of the season, in my opinion,” Bean shared.
Jacquelyn Ciarleglio, who is a senior at Morgan and is a captain of the indoor track team during her first year participating, adds that her improvement from the start of the season has really been shown in her first-ever race. “I think for my first indoor meet ever, it was a major success, and I am very happy with my results. I got to see a baseline for where I fell within my events, and it was good to get a positive gist. Next meet, I can improve on just some more block work and get my first few steps down perfectly,” Ciarleglio shared.
Landino’s performance was really good for the first-ever meet, but there was still room for improvement, as reflected in his performance from his first meet as well, saying, “I could have done better and expected myself to do better, but I was the first on, and I was getting baseline times and measures. I could improve on myself and how I warm up, staying calm before the race, and believing that I can do well and try to beat my times from last meet.”
Some of the standout runners for the girls’ 55m race were Addisyn Massey, who got 1st place, Bella Santello, who got 2nd place, and Kamila Barros, who got 4th place. On the 4×200 relay for the girls, Addisyn Massey, Bella Santello, Jacquelyn Ciarleglio, and Mia Zhiminaicela came in 2nd place. For the girls’ 300m, Santello placed 2nd and Massey placed 4th.
For the boys, some of the standout runners in the 4×400 relay were Kenneth Cameron-Antonucci, Colton Landino, Andrew Alvarez-Hidalgo, and Avery Morello, who placed 3rd in that race. Landino finished 10th in the 55m and in the Long Jump as well. Luke Rodriguez finished 9th in shot put and threw only a few inches short of his personal record from previous years.
“In general, Coach Cosgriff and I were very pleased with our results in the first meet. We showed up prepared and competed well. For many of our athletes, there were a lot of “first race jitters” and just getting a lay of the land, so to speak, in understanding the order of events. But after the gun sounded for everybody’s first events, I think we eased into it and really had a good first night with some strong performances,” Bean said.
Ciarleglio added to that and said, “I think as we got one meet down under our belt, it is only up from here successfully. Therefore, I believe many athletes will grow and evolve to better times throughout the season.”
Bean plans on continuing the work ethic with his team, putting in the work at the track and the weight room, trying to put his athletes in the right position as possible for them to succeed, and hopefully win and place well in some events at the upcoming Shoreline Championship this season.
