SPRINT SQUAD DOMINATES THE 4X200M RELAY, QUALIFIES FOR NATIONALS
Meet Information
MSTCA Northeast Invitational, Day 2
January 14, 2023
Reggie Lewis Center - Boston, MA
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - Saturday, The Minutemen were back at Reggie Lewis for an all day affair in the form of Day 2 of the Northeast Invitational. It ended up being another wildly successful day for LHS, as the Boys' and Girls' Teams turned in a combined 18 personal or season bests. However, the unquestioned highlight of the day came from the Boys' Sprint Squad in the 4x200m Relay. Before that race, The Minutemen were visited by an LHS icon. Darius "DWalk" Walker (LHS '07) - pictured right, with the boys - was a major part of LHS's 2007 Indoor and Outdoor All-State Championship Teams, and he still owns the school records for the 55m, 60m, 4x100m, 4x400m, and both the Indoor and Outdoor Long Jump. Walker was in town, and gave the boys some words of wisdom in the field house he once owned. Clearly his message worked, as shortly their after the 4x2s set the track on fire!
The Minutemen had both their 'A' Team and 'B' Team in the seeded section, and were poised to show their wealth of talent in the sprints. From the gun, LHS's 'A' Team blasted away from the field, led by senior captain Branndon Uda-Thach's unofficial split of 22.5 seconds. His younger brother Khai kept things rolling with a 23.0 unofficial split before handing off to Jake Wheaton. The senior ran a very strong leg en route to splitting 22.8 seconds. A solid handoff was made to senior captain Jayden Bai and after another great split of 22.7 seconds, The Minutemen crossed the line victorious with an MA #3 and US #31 time of 1:31.18. That time also qualifies the group for the Nationals Championships in March, making them the sixth national qualifier on the young season for The Minutemen. For their efforts, LHS's 'B' Team was able to place fourth overall with a tremendous time of 1:33.22. That time would rank as the seventh fastest squad in Massachusetts. Senior Miguel Jaramillo led off with a strong split of 23.5 seconds unofficially. That was followed up by junior McKenna O'Hare Gibson's 23.0 split. Senior captain Alexios Kontothanassis ran the best split of the group, blitzing around the track in 22.8 seconds. Then it was fellow classmate and captain Michael Gerfen who finished it off with an unofficial split of 23.7 seconds.
Other Highlights from Saturday:
Up Next
The Minutemen will finish up competition at the Northeast Invitational on Sunday beginning at 10am at Reggie Lewis. Live results can be found here.
MSTCA Northeast Invitational, Day 2
January 14, 2023
Reggie Lewis Center - Boston, MA
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - Saturday, The Minutemen were back at Reggie Lewis for an all day affair in the form of Day 2 of the Northeast Invitational. It ended up being another wildly successful day for LHS, as the Boys' and Girls' Teams turned in a combined 18 personal or season bests. However, the unquestioned highlight of the day came from the Boys' Sprint Squad in the 4x200m Relay. Before that race, The Minutemen were visited by an LHS icon. Darius "DWalk" Walker (LHS '07) - pictured right, with the boys - was a major part of LHS's 2007 Indoor and Outdoor All-State Championship Teams, and he still owns the school records for the 55m, 60m, 4x100m, 4x400m, and both the Indoor and Outdoor Long Jump. Walker was in town, and gave the boys some words of wisdom in the field house he once owned. Clearly his message worked, as shortly their after the 4x2s set the track on fire!
The Minutemen had both their 'A' Team and 'B' Team in the seeded section, and were poised to show their wealth of talent in the sprints. From the gun, LHS's 'A' Team blasted away from the field, led by senior captain Branndon Uda-Thach's unofficial split of 22.5 seconds. His younger brother Khai kept things rolling with a 23.0 unofficial split before handing off to Jake Wheaton. The senior ran a very strong leg en route to splitting 22.8 seconds. A solid handoff was made to senior captain Jayden Bai and after another great split of 22.7 seconds, The Minutemen crossed the line victorious with an MA #3 and US #31 time of 1:31.18. That time also qualifies the group for the Nationals Championships in March, making them the sixth national qualifier on the young season for The Minutemen. For their efforts, LHS's 'B' Team was able to place fourth overall with a tremendous time of 1:33.22. That time would rank as the seventh fastest squad in Massachusetts. Senior Miguel Jaramillo led off with a strong split of 23.5 seconds unofficially. That was followed up by junior McKenna O'Hare Gibson's 23.0 split. Senior captain Alexios Kontothanassis ran the best split of the group, blitzing around the track in 22.8 seconds. Then it was fellow classmate and captain Michael Gerfen who finished it off with an unofficial split of 23.7 seconds.
Other Highlights from Saturday:
- Season bests were turned in by every LHS athlete in the 55m Hurdles, with Jayden Bai 8.00) leading the way with a second place finish; Gerfen was seventh in the finals after running 8.06 in the prelims; junior Jacob Pan (8.73) was 27th overall; freshman Simon Tandeih (8.78) finished 34th; senior Naresh Vytheswaran ran 8.95 seconds to qualify for the League Championships.
- Junior Adia Singh turned in a huge PR in the 600m, and with her time of 1:41.44 she placed third overall from the unseeded section; junior Maya Dubrovsky qualified for the Division 1 Championships with a season best time of 1:48.07; sophomore Caroline Kvaal hit the Middlesex League Championship standard with a PR of 1:49.34.
- The Girls 4x200m Relay of junior Jada Solomon, junior Noa Helmbrecht, senior captain Rose O'Neill, and sophomore Laya Barghuthi earned a fifth place finish with a time of 1:52.78.
- The 1000m saw senior Antonio Lopez (2:41.60) ran his way to 17th overall; sophomore Nathan Cunningham (2:44.34) ran a huge PR to qualify for Divisionals and finish 23rd; sophomore Zach Barry qualified for Divisionals with a PR of 2:46.89; senior Jackson Monks broke the elusive three-minute barrier for the first time with a PR of 2:55.19; senior Ian Miller was 69th overall with a time of 2:56.78.
- Sophomore James Joseph turned in a PR and 21st place finish with a time of 1:30.80 in the 600m; that time qualified him for the League Championships.
- In the 1000m, senior captain Serena Caira finished 27th with a PR of 3:19.62.
- The 55m High Hurdles saw junior Katie Atkins land in 36th place with a time of 10.05.
- Debuting in the 300m and placing 41st was junior Gabby Fainelli (45.83); sophomore Heidi Alexanderian was 113th with a time of 49.06.
Up Next
The Minutemen will finish up competition at the Northeast Invitational on Sunday beginning at 10am at Reggie Lewis. Live results can be found here.