Staying on track

WEBUTUCK — Tiere Spruill, a Webutuck senior, ran in the 72nd running of the Eastern States Championship Track Meet on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at the Armory in New York City. To receive an invitation to participate in this meet means that the high school runner is one of the nation’s top athletes. Many of the events featured athletes who have posted the fastest times run in the Unites States this year and some events included athletes who have set all-time national records.    

Recognized as one of New York’s premier sprinters, Spruill was invited to run in both the 200 meters and 400 meters.

Spruill’s first race was the 200 meters.  He had an off night in this event with a showing of 22.70 seconds in the event (he had been clocked at 21.90 seconds in a previous running).  The sophomore sensation, Zamir Thomas, won the 200 meters in an all-star field of sprinters with a time of 21.90 seconds and Spruill had to settle for a 13th-place finish. While his performance was well below the hoped-for conclusion, in this field, it was still an impressive showing.

The 400 meters was the last individual race of the evening. Spruill had not run the 400 meters in competition prior to this meet. He gained an invitation to run the 400 meters in the Eastern States Championship Meet based on his time in the 300 meters, an event that is not run at the Eastern States Meet. Despite the fact that this was his first attempt at this distance in a competitive arena and having to run from an unseeded heat, he uncorked a 49.77-second performance, winning his heat and finishing seventh overall, reinforcing his reputation as one of  America’s fastest high school sprinters.

The State Indoor Championships are the next big challenge for the Webutuck Track Club (Thursday, March 5), where the runners are expected to turn in some impressive performances.  Webutuck indoor track leader, Tiere Spruill, has already qualified to run in the National Indoor Track meet, held in Boston on March 13.

Landon Johns is the Webutuck track coach.

Latest News

Classifieds - 4-25-24

Help Wanted

Grounds/Maintenance Position: Berkshire School has an opening for an individual to perform routine seasonal outside maintenance and grounds work, and event set-ups and breakdowns. This position requires heavy lifting and the ability to work as an effective member of a team. Some weekend and holiday hours are mandatory. This is a full-time, year round position with excellent benefits. Interested parties should contact Gabe Starczewski, gstarczewski@berkshireschool.org 413-229-1211.

Home Health Aide: Active senior woman seeks assistance with light home and care, including, some cooking, drive to doctors, shopping, occasional dog sitting. Flexible work arrangement. Possible live-in large one-bedroom apartment. Rent negotiable. Call Vicky at 860-435-2106. Leave message.

Keep ReadingShow less
Robert J. Pallone

NORFOLK — Robert J. Pallone, 69, of Perkins Street passed away April 12, 2024, at St. Vincent Medical Center. He was a loving, eccentric CPA. He was kind and compassionate. If you ever needed anything, Bob would be right there. He touched many lives and even saved one.

Bob was born Feb. 5, 1955, in Torrington, the son of the late Joseph and Elizabeth Pallone.

Keep ReadingShow less
The artistic life of Joelle Sander

"Flowers" by the late artist and writer Joelle Sander.

Cornwall Library

The Cornwall Library unveiled its latest art exhibition, “Live It Up!,” showcasing the work of the late West Cornwall resident Joelle Sander on Saturday, April 13. The twenty works on canvas on display were curated in partnership with the library with the help of her son, Jason Sander, from the collection of paintings she left behind to him. Clearly enamored with nature in all its seasons, Sander, who split time between her home in New York City and her country house in Litchfield County, took inspiration from the distinctive white bark trunks of the area’s many birch trees, the swirling snow of Connecticut’s wintery woods, and even the scenic view of the Audubon in Sharon. The sole painting to depict fauna is a melancholy near-abstract outline of a cow, rootless in a miasma haze of plum and Persian blue paint. Her most prominently displayed painting, “Flowers,” effectively builds up layers of paint so that her flurry of petals takes on a three-dimensional texture in their rough application, reminiscent of another Cornwall artist, Don Bracken.

Keep ReadingShow less
A Seder to savor in Sheffield

Rabbi Zach Fredman

Zivar Amrami

On April 23, Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield will host “Feast of Mystics,” a Passover Seder that promises to provide ecstasy for the senses.

“’The Feast of Mystics’ was a title we used for events back when I was running The New Shul,” said Rabbi Zach Fredman of his time at the independent creative community in the West Village in New York City.

Keep ReadingShow less