BOYS HURDLE RELAY BREAKS 13 YEAR OLD RECORD; GIRLS DMR GETS BRONZE AT RELAYS
Meet Information
MSTCA Division 1 Relays
January 22, 2023
Reggie Lewis Center - Boston, MA
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - The Minutemen returned to Reggie Lewis for the annual Division 1 Relays. On the Boys side the meet has been dominated by Newton North and Acton-Boxborough in recent years, with A-B winning last year and in 2019, while the Tigers took the title in 2020 - there was not 2021 meet. This year's installment of the meet was same story different chapter, as Newton North won in convincing fashion scoring 60 points to A-B's 50. The Minutemen had its best showing in recent memory in the Boys Meet by finishing fourth with 29 points. On the Girls side it was a much closer contest, in which Andover prevailed with 36 points over Westford Academy and Wachusett, who tied for second with 32 points. The Lex Girls finished 12th overall with 14 points.
The Lex Girls were led by the strong performance of their Distance Medley Relay team of senior captain Ava Criniti, junior Adia Singh, senior Jasmine Sun, and senior captain Uma Sanker. The quartet got off to a strong start with Criniti turning a split of 3:44.3 on the 1200m leg. That was followed up by a 62.8 split by Singh. Next up was Sun in the 800m. The senior harrier ran her way to a 2:35.0 split before passing off to Sanker, who wasted no time reeling in the chase pack, which included Division 1 Cross Country Champ, Cambridge Rindge & Latin sophomore Aoife Shovlin. The two were tight together throughout the latter half of the 1600m leg, before Shovlin made a move with 400m to go that Sanker could not match to grab the silver medal. Despite that, Sanker's split of 5:13.6 was the fastest of any miler in the field on Saturday, and her time led The Minutemen to a final time of 12:35.62. Acton-Boxborough's Girls won the event in 12:26.06, with Cambridge Rindge & Latin finishing in 12:32.75. Along with the DMR, the Girls Shuttle Hurdles turned in a surprise performance. The squad of junior Katie Atkins, freshman Charvi Chinnam, freshman Monjola Finnih, and junior Amandine Mangon ran their way to fourth place with a time of 32.42. That time achieved the New Balance Indoor Nationals standard in the event.
Continuing the tremendous day by the LHS Hurdle Squad, the Boys Shuttle Relay of senior captain Jayden Bai, freshman Simon Tandeih, senior Naresh Vytheswaran, and senior captain Michael Gerfen broke the 13-year old school record in the event. Their time of 26.45 seconds earned them the silver medal and a trip to Nationals as well. In the 4x200m Relay the depth of The Minutemen's Sprint Squad went up against the best sprinters in the state as Newton North's and A-B's Boys faced LHS at its best for the first time the season in the event. Before the showdown, LHS's 'B' Team toed the line in the unseeded section to show the state what The Minutemen are capable of. The team of senior Miguel Jaramillo (23.7), junior McKenna O'Hare Gibson (23.1), senior captain Alexios Kontothanassis (22.5), and Gerfen (22.8) blazed away from the field, winning convincingly with a time of 1:32.20. After a controversial DQ of that team was overturned on appeal, their time stood as the best one headed into the final section. Then, the gun fired in the seeded section and the teams were off to the races. Senior Branndon Uda-Thach popped off with a 23.1 split, handing off to his brother Khai in third place. Khai carried the baton to a split of 23.0 and the places did not change as Newton North and A-B remained one-two. Next up was senior Jake Wheaton. Running a stellar split of 22.8, he brought his team back to within reach of the top two teams going into the final handoff. An accidental collision with LHS's anchor Bai and A-B's third runner cost The Minutemen valuable time, but Bai still ran his heart out to a time of 22.5 seconds to finish third with a final time of 1:31.51 - Newton North's victory and meet record of 1:30.25 was upheld after another controversial disqualification was overturned, while A-B placed second in 1:31.44. In the end LHS picked up 10 points in the event as the 'B' Team placed fourth overall. The three teams went back at it in the 4x400m Relay to close out the meet. After being dominated by Newton North earlier this season at the Pre-Nationals Showcase, Lexington's Boys proved that they have more in the tank. Kontothanassis (52.0), Branndon Uda-Thach (51.6), O'Hare Gibson (51.7), and Wheaton (50.6) turned in a season best time of 3:25.93 to earn the silver medal, missing gold by just one-second. A-B was a distant third with a time of 3:28.49.
Other Highlights for the Girls
Other Highlights for the Boys
Up Next
The Minutemen will return to The Track at New Balance this Thursday, January 26th for the final dual meet of the Indoor Track & Field Season. The meet will get underway at 4:30pm.
MSTCA Division 1 Relays
January 22, 2023
Reggie Lewis Center - Boston, MA
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - The Minutemen returned to Reggie Lewis for the annual Division 1 Relays. On the Boys side the meet has been dominated by Newton North and Acton-Boxborough in recent years, with A-B winning last year and in 2019, while the Tigers took the title in 2020 - there was not 2021 meet. This year's installment of the meet was same story different chapter, as Newton North won in convincing fashion scoring 60 points to A-B's 50. The Minutemen had its best showing in recent memory in the Boys Meet by finishing fourth with 29 points. On the Girls side it was a much closer contest, in which Andover prevailed with 36 points over Westford Academy and Wachusett, who tied for second with 32 points. The Lex Girls finished 12th overall with 14 points.
The Lex Girls were led by the strong performance of their Distance Medley Relay team of senior captain Ava Criniti, junior Adia Singh, senior Jasmine Sun, and senior captain Uma Sanker. The quartet got off to a strong start with Criniti turning a split of 3:44.3 on the 1200m leg. That was followed up by a 62.8 split by Singh. Next up was Sun in the 800m. The senior harrier ran her way to a 2:35.0 split before passing off to Sanker, who wasted no time reeling in the chase pack, which included Division 1 Cross Country Champ, Cambridge Rindge & Latin sophomore Aoife Shovlin. The two were tight together throughout the latter half of the 1600m leg, before Shovlin made a move with 400m to go that Sanker could not match to grab the silver medal. Despite that, Sanker's split of 5:13.6 was the fastest of any miler in the field on Saturday, and her time led The Minutemen to a final time of 12:35.62. Acton-Boxborough's Girls won the event in 12:26.06, with Cambridge Rindge & Latin finishing in 12:32.75. Along with the DMR, the Girls Shuttle Hurdles turned in a surprise performance. The squad of junior Katie Atkins, freshman Charvi Chinnam, freshman Monjola Finnih, and junior Amandine Mangon ran their way to fourth place with a time of 32.42. That time achieved the New Balance Indoor Nationals standard in the event.
Continuing the tremendous day by the LHS Hurdle Squad, the Boys Shuttle Relay of senior captain Jayden Bai, freshman Simon Tandeih, senior Naresh Vytheswaran, and senior captain Michael Gerfen broke the 13-year old school record in the event. Their time of 26.45 seconds earned them the silver medal and a trip to Nationals as well. In the 4x200m Relay the depth of The Minutemen's Sprint Squad went up against the best sprinters in the state as Newton North's and A-B's Boys faced LHS at its best for the first time the season in the event. Before the showdown, LHS's 'B' Team toed the line in the unseeded section to show the state what The Minutemen are capable of. The team of senior Miguel Jaramillo (23.7), junior McKenna O'Hare Gibson (23.1), senior captain Alexios Kontothanassis (22.5), and Gerfen (22.8) blazed away from the field, winning convincingly with a time of 1:32.20. After a controversial DQ of that team was overturned on appeal, their time stood as the best one headed into the final section. Then, the gun fired in the seeded section and the teams were off to the races. Senior Branndon Uda-Thach popped off with a 23.1 split, handing off to his brother Khai in third place. Khai carried the baton to a split of 23.0 and the places did not change as Newton North and A-B remained one-two. Next up was senior Jake Wheaton. Running a stellar split of 22.8, he brought his team back to within reach of the top two teams going into the final handoff. An accidental collision with LHS's anchor Bai and A-B's third runner cost The Minutemen valuable time, but Bai still ran his heart out to a time of 22.5 seconds to finish third with a final time of 1:31.51 - Newton North's victory and meet record of 1:30.25 was upheld after another controversial disqualification was overturned, while A-B placed second in 1:31.44. In the end LHS picked up 10 points in the event as the 'B' Team placed fourth overall. The three teams went back at it in the 4x400m Relay to close out the meet. After being dominated by Newton North earlier this season at the Pre-Nationals Showcase, Lexington's Boys proved that they have more in the tank. Kontothanassis (52.0), Branndon Uda-Thach (51.6), O'Hare Gibson (51.7), and Wheaton (50.6) turned in a season best time of 3:25.93 to earn the silver medal, missing gold by just one-second. A-B was a distant third with a time of 3:28.49.
Other Highlights for the Girls
- LHS's Bomb Squad placed fifth in the Shot Put Relay; freshman Ainsley Cuthbertson led the way with a throw of 31'6.50", senior Rory Fox (28'5.50") and junior Quin Tandeih (28'1") finished the job.
- The High Jump Relay of sophomore Heidi Alexanderian, junior Noa Helmbrecht, and freshman Felice Haverly placed fifth with a total height of 12'11"; Haverly's leap of 4'9" qualified her for the Middlesex League Championships.
- In the 4x400m Relay it was freshman Phoebe Bracken, junior Gabby Fainelli, freshman Morgan Wipke, and junior Adia Singh who ran an MIAA Division 1 qualifying time of 4:17.67 to finish seventh.
- Junior Samara McVey, senior captain Serena Caira, freshman Meghan Caldera, and Sanker also ran a Divisional qualifier of 10:19.39 in the 4x800m to finish 10th overall.
- The 4x200m Relay of junior Jada Solomon, Helmbrecht, sophomore Laya Barghuthi, and Haverly ran a season best time of 1:51.60 to finish 12th.
Other Highlights for the Boys
- The Shot Relay featured senior Allen Jiang, who dropped an absolute bomb on his final throw of the competition; his toss of the 12lb. ball landed 50'7.50" into the sector, making it the farthest throw in recent - or not-so-recent - memory by an LHS's Thrower.
- Freshman Colin Smith's 2:09.7 split carried the 1600m Sprint Medley Relay of junior Victor Yu, freshman Andrew Gu, and senior Sam Simon to a fifth place finish in a time of 3:53.07.
- LHS's Shuttle Dash 'A' Team of Bai, Kontothanassis, Wheaton, and Branndon Uda-Thach placed sixth with a time of 22.36 seconds.
- In the 4x800m it was junior Nayan Das's 2:00.4 split that led his relaymates - sophomores Nathan Cunningham, Zach Barry, and Antonio Lopez - to a D1 qualifying time of 8:24.52; the team finished ninth overall.
Up Next
The Minutemen will return to The Track at New Balance this Thursday, January 26th for the final dual meet of the Indoor Track & Field Season. The meet will get underway at 4:30pm.