PEABODY — The Peabody Indoor Track & Field team may look different this year after graduating a core group of special athletes, but head coach Fernando Braz is looking forward to the new season. 

Last indoor season Peabody ended up having the girls and boys MVP of the Northeastern Conference on its team in Savanna Vargas and Logan Tracia both of whom have since graduated. When asked how Braz is going to replace the talent that left the team, he stated that it’ll take a team effort this year. 

“You don’t replace that talent with one individual. Those individuals come around once in a while and we’re very fortunate to have had them,” Braz said. “We don’t replace them with one. There’s no Savanna, Logan, Sarah [DiVasta], Aaliyah [Callahan], or Lindsey [Wilson] lying around. We hope we can do it through depth to stop the bleeding if we don’t have a true number one.” 

As good as the team was last year, Braz always pointed to his seniors as great people with great leadership skills. This year Braz mentioned the need for people to step up and become leaders of this young team. 

“We’re hoping that we laid a foundation last year within the culture of the program with the hope that the sophomores and juniors will understand what it’s about and pick up the pieces in terms of leadership,” Braz said. “We’re looking more than anything for leadership. We’re confident in the other pieces that throughout the season will progress as they progress.”

Until new leaders step up, Braz praised his coaching staff for all the years they extracted the best out of each athlete. 

“This team may be young, but I have so much confidence in our staff,” Braz said. “Every year they prove they can turn the average athlete good, a good athlete great, and a great athlete to a champion. We have the ability, we’re just inexperienced.”

Despite talented athletes leaving, Peabody still boasts a national champion in Alex Jackson. 

“Alex Jackson, who is a reigning national champion in the discus as a sophomore, is returning for his junior year,” Braz said. “He was a state champion in the spring so we’re looking for him to lead the boys.” 

“For the girls, we’re looking at Alessandra Forgione to have another great season in the shot put,” Braz said. 

On the track, Braz mentioned a few names that he believes will have a big year and hopes they can become better leaders throughout the season. 

“For the women’s sprint team we are looking at returners Yasmery “Mimi” Batista, we have a transfer in Makayla Kokonezis and a sophomore who established herself well in the league named Tamara Kemigisha,” Braz said. “We’re looking for those three to lead our hurdle team, our dash team, and our 300-meter team.”

Captain Marissa Simmons returns and Braz credited her for her versatility and described Simmons as the “heart of our team.” 

“She is something you can put in the dash and be competitive all the way to the 300 or 600 meters,” Braz said. 

For the distance runners: 

“Kyra Buckley and Sofia Schirripa will lead us in the 1,000 meters, mile, and two-mile,” Braz said. “For our middle distance, we are very fortunate to have Madi Barrett, Brooke Lomansey, and Connie Patturelli.”

On the boys side: 

“Hannington Senfuma is our high jumper and hurdler, Peyton Smith, Eli Batista, and Kobe Avery, are key returners,” Braz said. “We are also fortunate to have Evan Bedard who is a natural leader and Owen Brennan who ran spring track last year and was an efficient runner. Captain Ryan Faletra is returning and is one of our distance leaders. We are also looking forward to seeing Declan Smith run and if he’s healthy we’ll probably have him do a field event too.” 

Despite having a solid group of athletes, Braz believes for the team to be successful, they need to be willing to embrace change. 

“Our team will go as far as they are willing to accept any events that are necessary to win,” Braz said. “That’s not an easy thing to do. When an athlete who has been doing one or two events is now asked to do multi-events it’s hard to adjust. We’re hoping to get them to buy into it. If they can buy into it, I believe we can be successful.” 

“We think one thing that may be different is their willingness to accept change. This team is going to have to accept the fact that they need to have a willingness to accept a role they’re not familiar with,” Braz said. “With the senior class we graduated they knew as sophomores and juniors they were good. This team they’ll need to accept different roles if they want to be as successful.” 

Braz admitted as a coach he has to adapt and change every year, from planning different workouts all the way to how he coaches, but he said the one thing he and the staff won’t change – making sure they treat the team as humans first, athletes second. 

“Every year we make changes. The one thing we don’t want to change is making sure we put human beings first and athletes second,” Braz said. “That’s the one thing that has always been constant. I think the kids know that and they have the confidence and trust in us.”