Track and field meets are a flurry of activity – sprinters warming quietly for the coming all-out dash, middle and long distance runners stretching before and cooling down after draining themselves in steeplechases and grueling 3,000-meter runs. And officials and coaches, many of whom seem more pressured than the athletes, scurrying from area to area, exhausted after three hours of activity.

For the athletes competing in Friday’s Section 1 state qualifying meet held at White Plains High School on a windy, sunny afternoon, the down time was the best time.

“Track meets take forever, so we have time to socialize and hang out with other athletes,” said Bronxville middle distance runner Mary Cain, who qualified for the state’s Division II 1,500-meter event. “We’re very competitive, but between events we relate well. Everyone gets along.”

Taylor Love of Rye High and rival middle-distance runner Marc Vialone of Byram Hills High School competed in the two-mile run, with Vialone qualifying for his first state meet.

“I hate him when we race and even more this year because he’s doing so well,” said Love, with Vialone. “But we are friends. We all seem to get along. In team sports the teams meet at the start of the game and then go separate ways after the game. In track we spend lots of time waiting, so we have time to be people.”

Cain, a freshman phenomenon who has already won individual and team titles at the state level, seemed to enjoy meeting and greeting between winning the 1,500 and competing with her teammates in the 4 X 800 relay later in the qualifying.

“I ran a good race today,” she said. “The wind going up the track was strong and easier coming home. But I’m enjoying relaxing her on the grass with friends.”      

Click here to follow Daily Voice Armonk and receive free news updates.