HHS named seniors Kit Olmsted and Mark Suminski as HHS April Athletes of the Month. Olmsted is the second baseman for the Varsity softball team and Suminski throws javelin for the track team. Both athletes have had a successful four years of athletics in the high school level.

Olmsted has been playing softball for 10 years, but her main sport is field hockey. She has been playing field hockey since she was 7 years old, and she will be attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to play Division I field hockey. This past fall, Olmsted led the field hockey team to their victory in the State Championship game.

Although Olmsted is most well known for her being the field hockey goalie, she also excels at being a softball player, too. Olmsted was the starting second baseman this past spring for the softball team, and she was the lead off hitter for the batting line-up. She hit an over-the-fence homerun at the beginning of the season, which was a great start to the last season of her high school career.

Olmsted describes the team dynamic at softball as “fun and simple.” She said, “We feed off each others’ energy to have a great time playing the game.”

Olmsted said that the softball coaches have helped her realize that it is not always about winning, but that it is about improving and stepping back to see how far you have come.

“There’s nothing more satisfying than hearing the crack of a glove snapping when the ball hits the leather pocket,” Olmsted said.

Suminski has also had a successful spring season. This spring was Mark’s fourth track season throwing javelin on the track team. He plans to continue his track career at the Naval Academy and study ocean engineering.

Along with track, Suminski has also played basketball, cross country, baseball, and soccer.

Mark said the track team is a tight-knit team connected with the shared suffering of running. His track coaches taught him the the value of never giving up and the value of reputation, Suminski said.

After 4 years of high school sports completed, Suminski said, “Track is as raw as it gets: you’re either prepared to run and leave it all on the track or in the runway or you’re not. It’s all a matter of how much pain you’re willing to take in training and competing.”