All-Area Girls' Track & Field Coach of the Year: NFA's Kara Kochanski

What They're Saying About Kara

"She put together her most complete team and did a great job of utilizing the athletes she had. They compete hard and get after it, and came up big in the (Class) LL meet. She did a great job of getting her kids to peak that day."

Joel Finnegan, Montville coach

What You Need To Know About Kara

Norwich Free Academy's Kara Kochanski-Vendola has put together elite cross country and outdoor track and field programs at her alma mater (she's a 1994 graduate) - winning multiple league and state titles in both - but the 2012 Wildcats were arguably her best team yet. After cruising to its fifth straight Eastern Connecticut Conference championship meet title in May, NFA put its great depth on display at the Class LL meet, capturing the program's third title in five years. The Wildcats outdistanced a talented LL field with 110.5 points (Glastonbury was second at 85.7) and had place-winners in 14 of the 18 events. "They're really, really good, really, really deep," said East Lyme coach Carl Reichard, NFA's biggest rival, after the Wildcats beat his Vikings 102.5-47.5 in dual meet in May. "This is probably the best NFA team that Kara's had, if not ever. … They've got all the things that you're looking for: they're talented, they're deep, they're well-coached." Kochanski-Vendola, who competed in track and gymnastics as a student-athlete at NFA, has been the head cross country coach for six seasons and outdoor track for nine.

- Chuck Banning