NHS Kicks off the Blocks for a Fresh Start to the ´25 Season

Deme Jones ´26

Sophomore Thea Okeynikov Runs the girls 1600 meter as all of her hard work training in the pre-season pays off. She will is poised to be one of the key runners on this year’s indoor team.

Lila Farrelly ’28, Sophomore Editor • December 19, 2025

WOODBURY—Kicking off the blocks NHS indoor track season takes off.

This season, NHS indoor has a new voice in huddle as NHS faculty member and cross country and outdoor track coach Deb Flaherty takes over the program that was formally run by former coach Arleigh Duff.

¨I feel like this season we will be more together as a team,” says sophomore hurdle Gianna Perugini. ¨I feel like our team will definitely be a lot more cohesive with our new coach.¨

First year head coach Debra Flaherty looks forward to what the team will accomplish this year in their upcoming meets.

¨The meets are definitely the most exciting and my favorite because you get to see the kids put into action what they’ve been working toward since the beginning of the season,¨ says Flaherty.

The runners for this year’s season have been working hard to prepare themselves for this upcoming winter to outshine their prior season.

Sophomore Tatum Kociszewski competes in the girls 600 meter on February 1, 2025 during the Bethel Indoor Invitational.
(Deme Jones )

¨We put a regiment together with the weight room we use consistently. We rotate different groups through the weight room,¨ says Flaherty. ¨We do plyometrics we do hit workouts which is high intensity interval training we will do yoga and then we utilize the hallways.¨

These training programs have greatly helped runners excel in meets. Sophomore runner Thea Okeynikov sees the unique benefits of the new coaching staff’s training programs.

¨Mixing indoors while also focusing on cross country, I think, will allow my fitness to carry over really well rather than trying to get back into shape,¨ says Okeynikov. ¨I think it’s going to really help me open the indoor season just a few days after officially finishing cross country.¨

Along with the hard nights of training, comes with the success and the excitement of meets.

¨My favorite memories from last year’s season are having fun at the meets with all my friends,¨ says sophomore Tatum Kociszewski. ¨Last year, one of my favorite parts was after we were done racing, we would just watch and cheer on all the other events.¨

NHS track has their next meet on January 19th at Bethel High School.

About the Contributors

Lila Farrelly ’28, Editor

Lila Farrelly is a sophomore at Nonnewaug who writes for the Chief Advocate as a sophomore editor. She is from Woodbury, and in her free time she plays Softball and Field Hockey. This is her second year as a writer for the Chief Advocate.

Deme Jones ´26, Senior Editor

Deme Jones is a senior at Nonnewaug High School who writes and edits for the NHS Chief Advocate. She is now a senior editor. This is her third year as a writer for Chief Advocate, and she hopes for a great year filled with many well-written pieces. Deme enjoys her Photography, shooting for the Chief Advocate and hopes to continue in the future.