The Rye Varsity Indoor Track and Field team has already begun practicing ahead of the 2026 season, and all eyes are on one prize: the League Championship meet at the end of the regular season. Between now and then, Head Coach Bryan Johnson and his boys and girls team will both compete in several meets, where the players will have the opportunity to refine their skills in a competitive setting.
“Our League Championship is always our biggest meet of the season as a team,” Johnson told MyRye.com on November 26. “In the winter, it’s our one shot to compete as a team, and this is always a date that we have circled on the calendar from November onward.”
In terms of team composition, the Garnets have a large roster, highlighted by their talented upperclassmen. “We have a promising team this year,” Johnson told MyRye.com. “We will rely heavily on our returning veteran core, and have several talented young athletes on both the boys and girls side who should be able to score us points at the League level. We’ve been impressed with the younger athletes being willing to learn elements of our field events, and have several solid leaders who have helped show them the way.”
Although the team has not named officialy captains, several returners, both male and female, will be expected to lead both in and out of their events. For the boys, Ben Truman leads the group after a strong spring of 2025 and cross country fall season. His best event is the 600M.
Veteran Clayton Stark will lead in the distance events, and the coaching staff hopes Tino MacKinnon will play a solid second fiddle in the 1600 and 3200 races. Calvin Holler returns to lead throwers as part of the field events.
On the girls side, senior Lily Oberbannscheidt will anchor in the 1500 and 3000, and Fiona Marino is also expected to be a contributor in those events. “We’re looking for big things from Kate Schatz this indoor season, as she’ll be triple jumping and hurdling,” Johnson said. “Claire Curran returns to anchor us in the 300 and 600, and Riho Fukudome will be leading our core of hurdlers this year.” The Garnet girls will have to try to fill the hole left behind by the graduation of 2025 Rye Athlete of the Year Erin Ball.
Speaking of the entire returning body of top performers, Johnson concluded with: “These experienced runners will be looked at as the real leaders on our team, and they’ve already taken strides to bring the new athletes into our culture.”
Rye begins the year in early December. Johnson is entering his third season at the helm for the Garnets.
