LHS BOYS "BOMB SQUAD" SHATTERS SCHOOL RECORD TO HIGHLIGHT DIVISION 1 RELAYS
Meet Information
MSTCA Division 1 Relays
January 23, 2022
Reggie Lewis Center - Boston, MA
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - Saturday morning The Minutemen were back at Reggie Lewis for the annual Division 1 Relays. The meet is the ultimate test of teams' collective depths of talent as on the oval, the straightaway, and in the field, every event competed is done so in a relay format. Acton-Boxborough won the title with a score of 80 points. LHS showed well with the Boys placing third in the overall competition with 34 points. In the girls competition it was the team from Newton North scoring 50 points to take home the crown. The Lex Girls finished fifth overall with 24 points.
The highlight of the meet came in the Boys Shot Put Relay. Ahead of the meet the performance list was littered with throwers from Lexington and Newton North, with 8 of the top 9 seeds coming from the two schools. The teams did not disappoint as Newton North's A-Team won the competition with their three best throwers combined distance being 156'10.75". That effort broke the second oldest record in the books - New Bedford High School's record from 1982. It took that kind of effort to defeat LHS's "Bomb Squad", as the trio of Kaden "the Sundance Kid" Cassidy, Jack Ngo, and Allen Jiang combined to earn the silver medal with a combined distance of 136'2.75". That throw shattered the previous LHS record of 127'6.75" set by Michael Gupta (LHS '20), Yanni Zavaliagkos (LHS '20), and Jaret Dlugy (LHS '21) in 2020, and every member of this year's relay will be back for their senior season next year. Along with the Shot Put Relay, The Minutemen earned two more sets of silver medals on the Boys side. To begin the action on the oval the 4x800m Relay of senior captain Ollie DiCerbo, senior Nick Lam, sophomore Glenn Burscu, and senior captain Evan Eberle placed second overall with a time of 8:17.10. Finally the 4x400m Relay of senior captain Josh Lee, DiCerbo, Eberle, and junior Brandon Uda-Thach turned in an electric finish to grab second place by two-hundredths of a second. Their time of 3:30.73 was a season best, highlighted by Uda-Thach's unofficial 50.3 split on the anchor leg to lead The Minutemen over Newton North in the final meters.
On the girls side, star distance runner Ava Criniti led The Minutemen to what would be their top finish on the day, a silver medal in the Distance Medley Relay. Senior captain Clara Fu kicked things off with a strong 1200m leg before handing off to fellow classmate and captain Mari McBride who blazed to a sub-60 split on the 400m leg. Junior Uma Sanker turned in a solid 800m leg, giving Criniti a chance to catch up with the leaders. The junior harrier did that an then some. Turning in a 5:08.6 split over 1600m, including a 71-second final quarter, Criniti made up nearly 75 meters on Acton-Boxborough to grab second place in a final time of 12:44.88. Before their tremendous efforts in the DMR, Criniti, Fu, and Sanker had teamed up with sophomore Samara McVey to earn the bronze medal in the 4x800m Relay with a season best time of 10:02.10. The final podium finish for the Lex Girls was turned in by the Long Jump Relay of the seniors Anna Yang, Haley Creighton, and Elena Sabin. Despite the rules only allowing competitors two jumps, instead of the standard three, captain Anna Yang led the way for The Minutemen with a season best leap of 16'5.25". That jump was the fourth best in the overall competition, and helped the team earn the bronze medal.
Other Highlights for the Boys
Other Highlights for the Boys
Up Next
The Minutemen will be back at Reggie Lewis next Saturday, January 29th for the MSTCA Coaches Invitational. The meet is set to begin at 3pm.
MSTCA Division 1 Relays
January 23, 2022
Reggie Lewis Center - Boston, MA
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - Saturday morning The Minutemen were back at Reggie Lewis for the annual Division 1 Relays. The meet is the ultimate test of teams' collective depths of talent as on the oval, the straightaway, and in the field, every event competed is done so in a relay format. Acton-Boxborough won the title with a score of 80 points. LHS showed well with the Boys placing third in the overall competition with 34 points. In the girls competition it was the team from Newton North scoring 50 points to take home the crown. The Lex Girls finished fifth overall with 24 points.
The highlight of the meet came in the Boys Shot Put Relay. Ahead of the meet the performance list was littered with throwers from Lexington and Newton North, with 8 of the top 9 seeds coming from the two schools. The teams did not disappoint as Newton North's A-Team won the competition with their three best throwers combined distance being 156'10.75". That effort broke the second oldest record in the books - New Bedford High School's record from 1982. It took that kind of effort to defeat LHS's "Bomb Squad", as the trio of Kaden "the Sundance Kid" Cassidy, Jack Ngo, and Allen Jiang combined to earn the silver medal with a combined distance of 136'2.75". That throw shattered the previous LHS record of 127'6.75" set by Michael Gupta (LHS '20), Yanni Zavaliagkos (LHS '20), and Jaret Dlugy (LHS '21) in 2020, and every member of this year's relay will be back for their senior season next year. Along with the Shot Put Relay, The Minutemen earned two more sets of silver medals on the Boys side. To begin the action on the oval the 4x800m Relay of senior captain Ollie DiCerbo, senior Nick Lam, sophomore Glenn Burscu, and senior captain Evan Eberle placed second overall with a time of 8:17.10. Finally the 4x400m Relay of senior captain Josh Lee, DiCerbo, Eberle, and junior Brandon Uda-Thach turned in an electric finish to grab second place by two-hundredths of a second. Their time of 3:30.73 was a season best, highlighted by Uda-Thach's unofficial 50.3 split on the anchor leg to lead The Minutemen over Newton North in the final meters.
On the girls side, star distance runner Ava Criniti led The Minutemen to what would be their top finish on the day, a silver medal in the Distance Medley Relay. Senior captain Clara Fu kicked things off with a strong 1200m leg before handing off to fellow classmate and captain Mari McBride who blazed to a sub-60 split on the 400m leg. Junior Uma Sanker turned in a solid 800m leg, giving Criniti a chance to catch up with the leaders. The junior harrier did that an then some. Turning in a 5:08.6 split over 1600m, including a 71-second final quarter, Criniti made up nearly 75 meters on Acton-Boxborough to grab second place in a final time of 12:44.88. Before their tremendous efforts in the DMR, Criniti, Fu, and Sanker had teamed up with sophomore Samara McVey to earn the bronze medal in the 4x800m Relay with a season best time of 10:02.10. The final podium finish for the Lex Girls was turned in by the Long Jump Relay of the seniors Anna Yang, Haley Creighton, and Elena Sabin. Despite the rules only allowing competitors two jumps, instead of the standard three, captain Anna Yang led the way for The Minutemen with a season best leap of 16'5.25". That jump was the fourth best in the overall competition, and helped the team earn the bronze medal.
Other Highlights for the Boys
- The Shuttle Hurdle Relay of Jayden Bai, Jerry Gong, Andrew Lawrence, and Jacob Pan placed fourth overall with a time of 28.70 seconds.
- Gong had the second best Long Jump in the competition, matching his PR of 20'5"; his mark combined with Bai's and Michael Gerfen's identical marks of 17'4" landed the team in fourth place.
- In the 4x200m Relay, Lee, Bai, and Uda-Thach teamed up with Miguel Jaramillo for a season best 1:34.08 to place fifth overall.
Other Highlights for the Boys
- In the 4x400m Relay Sabin, Maya Dubrovsky, Gabby Fainelli, and McBride placed fourth with a season best time of 4:16.15.
- Rose O'Neill, Adeline Favazzo, Fainelli, and Claire Pak finished seventh with a time of 4:35.61 in the 1600m Sprint Medley Relay.
- The 4x200m Relay of O'Neill, Yang, Favazzo, and McBride turned in a season best time of 1:50.71 to finish seventh.
- Showcasing the team's depth, the B-Team 4x800m Relay of Annie O'Brien, Dubrovsky, Serena Caira, and Adia Singh finished in seventh place overall with a time of 10:22.70 that, if B-Team's were allowed, would qualify a second 4x800m Relay for the Division 1 Championships in February.
Up Next
The Minutemen will be back at Reggie Lewis next Saturday, January 29th for the MSTCA Coaches Invitational. The meet is set to begin at 3pm.