Old Rochester athlete sprints past school record

MATTAPOISETT — When Phoebe Cowles crossed the finish line at an indoor track meet late last year, she was met with cheering and celebration from her friends and teammates.

Cowles, a sophomore at Old Rochester Regional High School, had just broken the school record for the 600 meter.

The Mattapoisett runner had set out to break the record at the beginning of the season — she had gotten close during her freshman year — and was shy by only 2 seconds at her previous meet. 

Still, she wasn’t expecting to break it that day.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I did it,’” Cowles said. “I was really happy, that was really amazing.”

Cowles has found her stride as she makes and breaks past goals, balances the individual and team aspects of her sport, and welcomes the next generation to the team and school.

For her, setting and achieving goals is a point of pride. 

It also gets her to the finish line.

“Setting goals and accomplishing them is really important to me,” Cowles said. “What pushes me to the finish line is the concept of reaching that goal and being really proud of myself. I think it's really important.”

She said her coach helped her realize how good her times were and that she could make it to the state competition as a freshman. Cowles went to nationals that year, and said her goal is to go again before she graduates. 

She’s also got her eye on another school record.

“The 800 (meter) school record is definitely daunting, but I think I could get there,” she said.

She said her first sport at the school was soccer, but she began to run in the off season and joined the track team. While she was looking for conditioning, she said she was surprised to find what she now considers her main sport. 

Unlike team sports, where individuals can have a bad game but still win, she sees track as a different blend of individuality and teamwork.

She said she enjoys how she is solely responsible for her performance as she runs, but still feels supported by her teammates. 

It’s an individual sport when running, but she said it goes back to being about the team “as soon as you finish.”

“When someone’s on the track, we’ll be chanting, saying ‘You’ve got to push,’ ‘You’ve got to go now,’” she said. “Sometimes when you're running, you feel like you're in a trance, so it helps you break out of that and realize that you can push harder.”

Cowles said she also draws motivation from older runners on the team. 

She pointed to two recent graduates who inspired her when they were still on the team, and said they showed her how hard work could result in great results.

“As much as you put into track, you can get out of it,” Cowles said. “They showed me that.”

They also showed her the importance of welcoming her younger counterparts.

Outside of athletics, Cowles is part of the ambassadors club — a group of students who give incoming students tours of the school and welcome them on the first day of class. 

She said the upperclassmen were supportive and involved when her and her fellow freshmen joined the team last year. She hopes to do the same for students, both on her team and through her club involvement. 

“I wanted to be like the welcoming person to the freshmen coming in, and I think a lot of people feel that way,” she said.