Senior Lilly Petrie committed to run Division III track and field at Amherst College on Aug. 22.
“I started track because I wanted to be a part of a team environment outside of a club, and my sister did it and really enjoyed it, so I thought I would give it a whirl,” said Petrie.
Although Petrie didn’t start running until she began high school, she worked diligently and persistently to better her technique and now holds multiple WHS records: 55m hurdle, 55m shuttle relay, 4x400m relay, and triple jump relay.
Along with her many accolades, Petrie developed an affinity for the sport, finding herself unable to part with it when she entered college. “I think it was the end of my sophomore year. Whenever I was in the off-season I knew I really missed it and missed the training and I missed all of it. So, the idea of being in a school without running just didn’t feel right,” said Petrie.
Petrie’s craving for improvement and attachment to the sport was shared with her teammate and friend, Alexis Ray, for the past four years. “We do pre-season in the summer and the fall. So, we train and keep our legs warm for the actual winter season. We do a bunch of aerobic workouts, and we lift at the YMCA every Saturday,” said Ray.
Others recognized Petrie’s progress as she was named Most Improved Athlete in the 2023 spring track season and 2023-24 winter track season.
In addition to Ray, Petrie has met many of her best friends through the sport and credits the track program that garners a friendly, yet competitive environment. Petrie said, “I think the team community has always been very strong, and having such talented runners these past couple of years to train with has really helped me develop a love for the sport. They inspired me and showed me where I could be if I kept pushing and kept training. Seeing their hard work was very motivational and gave me more drive and purpose.”
The ambition that the WHS track community has fostered played a vital role in the type of program Petrie wanted to join for her college years. Petrie was choosing between “pretty similar” schools, but “it all came down to the level of competitiveness within the team.”
Last year, when she and her teammates had a set objective for the season, winning sectionals, it made the accomplishment evermore “special.” Now, having to choose between her two top choices, she admired Amherst’s passion. “They have a goal. They want to win their conference and want to get up there in terms of nationals at the Division III level and I think the other schools I was looking at didn’t have that drive,” said Petrie.
The Amherst track and field team competes in the New England Small College Athletic Conference and is led by head coach Steve Rubin who recently began his eighth season. Rubin has already made a remarkable mark on the program as he has coached 16 NESCAC champions and has had over 30 records broken during his time as coach.
Located in Amherst, MA, Amherst College is considered a “little ivy.” It was named the second best liberal arts school in the nation and has an undergraduate population of about 2,000 according to usnews.com.
Just like on the track, Petrie excels in the classroom. To continue her academic rigor, a contributing factor to her choice was the Amherst biology department. “They have a really good biochemistry and biophysics program and they just built a new science building,” said Petrie.
With her love of natural science, but also a fondness for programming, Petrie said, “Double majors are very common at Amherst, so I’m thinking of double major in biochemistry and computer science, which might be a lot, but they are things I’m very passionate about and I think they will help me in the long run whether I go into research or medicine.”
Petrie just started her final winter track season as a Blue Devil and has high hopes for this year. Petrie said, “I’m really hoping [we] continue to grow and improve at the rate we’ve been improving because we are all really proud of ourselves in that regard. I’ve also seen a lot of incomers that seem to have a passion for the sport and have a lot of potential…they will help the program to grow, especially since we lost so many good runners last year.”
