Quin Gideon shared his experience of what it takes to get to the state meet and hopes to return there with some teammates this season. The senior is the lone returner from Rhinebeck’s 3,200-meter relay who missed medaling by less than a second at the 2025 state meet.
“This year is a huge growing year with the opportunity to show something great,” said Gideon. “With a whole new group, it gives us many options for everyone to grow in places that they thought they couldn’t.
“During the preseason, I told them this is a great team to join. There are many opportunities to win. If you put in the effort at practice, show up and show you want to win, that will get you to your goal and better opportunities. I told them getting to states was not easy. It took hard work and dedication.”
Gideon will run the 400 and 800 as well as relays this season.
Senior Landon Williams is a long jumper, and senior Greg Reed is competing in the discus.
The Rhinebeck girls lost two seniors to graduation, and return juniors Bluebell Quested and Sophia Santoro.
There are 35 student-athletes in Rhinebeck’s track and field program. The Hawks, who will host Red Hook on April 22, will compete at the Mid-Hudson Athletic League championships at Rondout Valley on May 20 and the Section IX state qualifier at Cornwall on June 3 and Goshen on June 4.
“It’s a young team,” said Rhinebeck coach Chris Sneed. “We graduated a lot of seniors. On one hand, it’s a little scary because normally I have a pretty good idea of how far we’re going to go into the season, not so much this year, but that makes it exciting.”
Sneed added, “We have a lot of new kids who are willing to try new things, seem interested in learning about the sport and are putting forth a nice effort. We have new athletes who are looking forward to seeing what they’re able to do, what events they end up gravitating toward and what we can start building upon for the future.”