Last weekend, the boys’ and girls’ track team competed in the New Balance Indoor Nationals at the Armory Track & Field center on 168th street in New York City.
“Initially we were a little disappointed with our times in all three relays as we thought we could run better at the Armory than we had during the rest of the season,” head coach Laddie Lawrence said. “However, in the 4×400 meters and 4×800 meters we ran the second fastest times in the history of the school, and the 4×200 meters time was the third fastest in school history.”
Lawrence added that in all three events the relay teams finished better than they had been seeded.
As far as standings go, the 4×200(comprised of Jon Heil ‘11, Zach Mitchell ‘12, Sean Gallagher ’11, and Raph Ray ’11) came in 32nd with a time of 1:32.96, the 4×400(Heil, Jack Roche ‘11, Gallagher, and Ray) placed 16th in 3:24.5, and the 4×800(Walker Marsh ’13, Ray, Jeff Caffery ’11, and Henry Wynne ’13) finished 20th with a time of 8:02.46.
“Overall, I think it was a successful meet for us, considering that two of the boys were sick (Marsh and Roche) during the week and one had a slight injury and that we still managed to post top level, nationally ranked performances in all three events,” Lawrence said.
Roche’s illness resulted in him being replaced by Raph Ray in the 4×800 so that Roche could get more rest for the 4×400.
The girls’ team meanwhile, competed solely in Emerging Elite events. Emerging Elite events are for those who have narrowly missed the qualifying standard for the marquee national events, with the idea being those who compete in these events will be competing in Nationals down the road.
Lexie Schachne ’12 finished second in the pole vault after jumping a school record 11-08.259(feet), while Ingrid Johnson ’11 finished 25th in the 800 meters (new school record), Turner Block finished 40th in the 200 meters in 26.82 seconds (new school record) with Kelley Hussey coming in 50th in 28.12 seconds in the same event. Hussey also finished 34th in the 60 meter dash in 7.56 seconds.
In addition, the girls’ 4×400 meters (Block, Courtney Mullen ’12, Elizabeth Driscoll ’11, and Johnson) came in 8th in 4:03.46(new school record), while the girls’ 4×800 meters (Mullen, Georgia Kursten ’13, Kristen Weiler ’11, and Emily Hanrahan ’11) came in 21st in a season-best 9:49.56.
“We were all really happy with our performances,” Johnson said. It was definitely a nice way to end the season, especially at such a big meet.”
Johnson also praised the performance of her teammates, especially that of the relay teams and of Schachne.
Sean Gallagher, who competed as a member of the 4×200 and the 4×400 relay teams, said that while the results are pleasing, the outdoor track season still awaits.
“Our mission is not over yet,” Gallagher said. “The experience we have gained from running with the best track athletes in the nation will serve us well as we look to continue our success outdoors.”
