Track and Field

Over the past 30 years, if you were asked what the most successful sport in Franklin County and Athol was, probably one of the last ones you'd think of would be track and field.

Well, believe it or not, our runners, jumpers and throwers have won a collective 27 western Mass. team titles over the past three decades, not to mention the plethora of individual championships, to put this sport at Number 1.

Some will easily disagree. One argument will be that track isn't truely a team sport. Well, then why is there a team title as well as individual crowns awarded at the end of the sectional championships?

Some will argue that no local track team has ever won a state title unlike other sports such as softball, baseball, basketball or volleyball.

True. Those sports have won a combined 12 state crowns, never mind the numerous WMass. titles, the past 30 years and you have a credible argument.

Consider this.

All those other sports advance as an entire team where in track, individuals have to qualify just to get into WMass. and then qualify again to make the states. Entire teams just don't get in no matter how well they did during the season. Then there is the fact that, after the sectional championships, track is the only sport that doesn't get broken down into divisions for the states. And if that wasn't proof enough, consider the fact that track athletes can advance and compete against the best in all of New England, which they have with great success, and the evidence is clear.

There have been 17 WMass. boys champions and 10 girls since 1977. Mohawk has been crowned King nine times, while Frontier is the Queen with six championships. The Warriors also have the most combined titles with 12. Frontier is second with its six girl's crowns while Greenfield - which can boast four more boys titles prior to 1977 - is third overall in this time period with five.

Throughout these pages you'll be able to see all the WMass. team champions, as well as the history of both the Intercounty and Franklin County leagues with a year-by-year champions listing in the statistics section of this site. There will also be a year-by-year listing of every WMass. individual champion, everyone who has ever medaled at the at the All New England's and the top three finishers at the state championships. Not to mention feature stories on some of the most elite athletes this area ever produced.