Vote for the SouthCoast Girls Track Athlete of the Year for 2026

It was a solid spring season for SouthCoast girls track teams as Old Rochester went undefeated during the regular season and captured the South Coast Conference championship. Several local athletes competed at their divisional meets.

>It’s time to shine a spotlight on the SouthCoast athletes that stood out this spring.

>Before we announce our super teams, we need more help from our readers to help choose our Player of the Year in each sport. Like our polls from this past winter and fall, the list has been narrowed down to the most elite athletes in the area.

>Vote for the SouthCoast High School Girls Track Athlete of the Year below. Reader votes will make up 25% of the tally, with Sports Editor Laurie Los Lee making up the rest of the vote.

>Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by school.

>Voting will conclude at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, July 7.

THE POLL

THE CANDIDATESShelbie Ruffley, GNB Voc-TechThe senior capped off her career with a strong spring season. At the South Coast Conference meet, she placed second in both the 100 hurdles (17.39) and 400 hurdles (1:09.65) in addition to coming in fourth in the javelin (88-7). The conference all-star went on to compete in the same three events at the Div. 3 meet, coming in 11th in the javelin (99-04), 15th in the 400 hurdles (1:10.39) and 23rd in the 100 hurdles (17.76).

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Amaya Pastor, New BedfordThe junior was the Big 3 Conference champion in the 100 and 200, powering the Whalers to the conference title. She helped the 4x100 relay team place sixth at the Div. 1 state championship and 17th at the Meet of Champions. Pastor also helped set a new 4x200 outdoor record at the Adidas National Championship meet in Greensboro, NC.

Phoebe Cowles, Old RochesterIn her second year on varsity, Cowles powered the Bulldogs to a perfect regular season and South Coast Conference championship. The SCC All-Star took second in the 800 at the conference meet, fourth at the Div. 5 meet and qualified for the Meet of Championship. Her best time was 2:18.28. She also had success in the 400, placing third in the event at the Div. 5 meet. Her season best was 59.89. Cowles also ran a 59.3 split on the second-place 4x400 relay team at divisionals.

>This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Vote for the SouthCoast Girls Track Athlete of the Year for 2026