With spring here the flowers are sprouting, the sun is shining and runners are running.

The Old Rochester Regional High School boys and girls track team got off to a good Thursday, April 3 when both teams won against Case High School during the first meet of the season. The girl’s team beat Case 128 to 5 while the boys team beat Case 78 to 58.

“I saw some surprises at the meet, which is good. I saw better performances than I thought I would, but it’s still too early and too cold for impact,” said boys coach Bill Tilden.

Girls Coach Cindy Tilden said the team has faced cold weather to prepare.

“Practices leading up to this meet have been hard, leaving some of our runners even in shock,” said Tilden before the meet.

Tilden said the hard work should pay off.

“I hope to qualify as many of my athletes as possible for the state meet. I’m hoping for top five,” said Tilden.

There are more than 50 athletes competing on the track team, including several freshmen that are new to the sport.

Riley Shaughnessy, a freshman distance runner, participated her first spring track meet last week. She said the team welcomed her.

“My first spring track meet was fun!” she said.

Leading the way for the freshman are the senior athletes, who have experienced several cold but successful meets on the team. Senior Morgan Dasilva has been competing in spring track meets since her freshman year at ORR.

“Having this be my last first track meet is bittersweet. It’s hard to know that it’s the last season of high school sports,” said Dasilva. “I knew it would come eventually. But I’m glad I know where I am going next year.” Dasilva plans to attend the University of Connecticut next year. Dasilva will not be running competitively in college.

“Our first meet was successful. Obviously I wasn’t pushing towards a personal best on the first meet of the season, but I like running on our track. I’m so used to it,” said Dasilva.

Despite it only being the first meet of the season players have their sights on setting personal goals. Junior Michael Kassabian ran times during Thursday’s meet that only made him eager for faster, better results. “Thursday’s times were probably similar to last year’s. I am right on pace.” said Kassabian, “Based on Thursday’s meet, I believe my overall goal this season is to qualify for states.”