THE MINUTEMEN FINALLY BREAK THROUGH AGAINST READING
Meet Information
Reading Dual Meet
December 29, 2022
The Track at New Balance - Boston, MA
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - It had been 1,087 since The Minutemen had taken down the Reading Boys in a dual meet back in January of 2020. Since that day, these two teams have clashed seven times in Middlesex League dual meets and championship meets. Each team won three of those meets, and last winter's instant classic dual meet was fought to a tie. Needless to say, Thursday's dual was the next chapter in the the fierce Lexington v. Reading rivalry.
Things got off to a fast start for the The Minutemen as seniors Michael Gerfen (8.08) and Jayden Bai (8.17) went one-two in the 55m High Hurdles. Rockets' senior Jack Dougherty answered back, however, in the 55m Dash winning by less than one-hundredth of a second over LHS senior Jake Wheaton. Both boys were given the time of 6.80 seconds. As things turned to the oval, The Minutemen turned to one of their best in Glenn Burcsu. The junior harrier ran a controlled effort to win the Mile going away in a PR of 4:37.15. The 600m saw Reading push back again with seniors Jackson Clish (1:26.42) and Thomas Gallegos (1:28.90) going one-two in the event. The Rockets were given another boost by their distance star Jack Quinn (2:37.65), who bested LHS sophomore Max Zhang (2:40.76) in the 1000m. Meanwhile, while all of this was going on on the oval, junior McKenna O'Hare Gibson was in the midst of a breakout performance on the High Jump apron. Having only competed in the event once previously, O'Hare Gibson cleared 5'8" on his third an final attempt to earn a much needed second place and three unexpected points in the event. He then went on to clear the bar at both 5'9" and 5'11" on his third attempts, making him the first LHS jumper since 2019 to clear that height. As they seem to do every meet, LHS's Bomb Squad came through with seniors Allen Jiang (48'10.75") and captain Jack Ngo (46'8.75") going one-two in the Shot Put. Back on the oval, in what was perhaps the most anticipated race of the day, The Minutemen's vaunted sprint squad got their second shot at Dougherty. This time in the 300m. Senior Branndon Uda-Thach breezed his way through the first half of the race, allowing Dougherty to pull ahead as the two athletes charged down the backstretch. Heading into the final turn though, it was Uda-Thach who shifted into another gear to pull away with a tremendous time of 35.82 seconds, which grabbed the victory. Fellow classmate Alexios Kontothanassis ran a fabulous race of his own, nearly catching Dougherty at the line with a time of 36.67 to place third. After senior Jerry Gong picked up a point in the Long Jump by placing third, The Minutemen's two milers toed the line. Junior Joey "Candy Man" Ryan (10:10.04) turned in a stellar run, wearing out Reading's Graham Goodwin over the final 800m of the race to earn a hard fought victory. In addition, Burcsu doubled back and used a 32-second last 200m to grab second in 10:18.03. After 10 events, the score stood at 48-42 with The Minutemen leading and needing to win only one of the 4x200m or 4x400m relays. First up was the 4x2 team of junior Sean Crogan, Bai, Gerfen, and junior Khai Uda-Thach, which wasted no time blasting out to the lead and thundering around the track. Reading's team fought hard but simply could not handle The Minutemen, and with Uda-Thach crossing the line in 1:33.45, he not only earned the victory in the relay, but sealed a well deserved win for his team. While the meet was locked up, Wheaton, Kontothanassis, O'Hare Gibson, and Branndon Uda-Thach still wanted to make one final statement in the 4x4. They did just that. Battling through the first three legs before Uda-Thach took it home in a season best and League best time of 3:33.17. With that, the final score was Lexington 58, Reading 42.
For their part, the Lex Girls fought tooth and nail the entire meet to give themselves a shot to beat Reading without a number of their top athletes. In the end it was not enough as the Rockets pulled off a 56-44 victory over The Minutemen. Despite the tough loss, the Lex Girls had a number of standout performances. Perhaps none better than senior captain Uma Sanker. Beginning her day in the Mile, she made a statement in the first 400m that she was the one to beat. Gapping the field by nearly 10-seconds, she would breeze through the middle laps of the race before popping off a cool 72 second final quarter to win by over 20-seconds with a new PR of 5:17.01. Sanker was back later in the 1000m where she again was in control from the beginning and used another 72 second final 400m to win going away in a time of 3:15.23. Breakout freshmen Felice Haverly had the best day of her young LHS career. First turning in a PR and MIAA Division 1 qualifying time of 44.37 seconds in the 300m, Haverly then cleared 4'8" in the High Jump for the first time. She then finished her day off with a very strong 27.1-second split to anchor her 4x200m team of junior Jada Solomon, senior captain Rose O'Neill, and sophomore Laya Barghuthui to a season best and Divisional qualifying time of 1:51.88. Continuing to show the incredible potential she has in the event, junior Amandine Mangon improved her PR in the 55m Hurdles, and qualified for the Divisional Meet with a time of 9.57 seconds.
Other Highlights for the Boys
Other Highlights for the Girls
Up Next
With the Reading Meet now behind them, The Minutemen will now turn to the Red and Black of Winchester for their first competition of 2023. The meet - at The Track at New Balance - will take place Thursday, January 5th at 4:30pm.
Reading Dual Meet
December 29, 2022
The Track at New Balance - Boston, MA
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - It had been 1,087 since The Minutemen had taken down the Reading Boys in a dual meet back in January of 2020. Since that day, these two teams have clashed seven times in Middlesex League dual meets and championship meets. Each team won three of those meets, and last winter's instant classic dual meet was fought to a tie. Needless to say, Thursday's dual was the next chapter in the the fierce Lexington v. Reading rivalry.
Things got off to a fast start for the The Minutemen as seniors Michael Gerfen (8.08) and Jayden Bai (8.17) went one-two in the 55m High Hurdles. Rockets' senior Jack Dougherty answered back, however, in the 55m Dash winning by less than one-hundredth of a second over LHS senior Jake Wheaton. Both boys were given the time of 6.80 seconds. As things turned to the oval, The Minutemen turned to one of their best in Glenn Burcsu. The junior harrier ran a controlled effort to win the Mile going away in a PR of 4:37.15. The 600m saw Reading push back again with seniors Jackson Clish (1:26.42) and Thomas Gallegos (1:28.90) going one-two in the event. The Rockets were given another boost by their distance star Jack Quinn (2:37.65), who bested LHS sophomore Max Zhang (2:40.76) in the 1000m. Meanwhile, while all of this was going on on the oval, junior McKenna O'Hare Gibson was in the midst of a breakout performance on the High Jump apron. Having only competed in the event once previously, O'Hare Gibson cleared 5'8" on his third an final attempt to earn a much needed second place and three unexpected points in the event. He then went on to clear the bar at both 5'9" and 5'11" on his third attempts, making him the first LHS jumper since 2019 to clear that height. As they seem to do every meet, LHS's Bomb Squad came through with seniors Allen Jiang (48'10.75") and captain Jack Ngo (46'8.75") going one-two in the Shot Put. Back on the oval, in what was perhaps the most anticipated race of the day, The Minutemen's vaunted sprint squad got their second shot at Dougherty. This time in the 300m. Senior Branndon Uda-Thach breezed his way through the first half of the race, allowing Dougherty to pull ahead as the two athletes charged down the backstretch. Heading into the final turn though, it was Uda-Thach who shifted into another gear to pull away with a tremendous time of 35.82 seconds, which grabbed the victory. Fellow classmate Alexios Kontothanassis ran a fabulous race of his own, nearly catching Dougherty at the line with a time of 36.67 to place third. After senior Jerry Gong picked up a point in the Long Jump by placing third, The Minutemen's two milers toed the line. Junior Joey "Candy Man" Ryan (10:10.04) turned in a stellar run, wearing out Reading's Graham Goodwin over the final 800m of the race to earn a hard fought victory. In addition, Burcsu doubled back and used a 32-second last 200m to grab second in 10:18.03. After 10 events, the score stood at 48-42 with The Minutemen leading and needing to win only one of the 4x200m or 4x400m relays. First up was the 4x2 team of junior Sean Crogan, Bai, Gerfen, and junior Khai Uda-Thach, which wasted no time blasting out to the lead and thundering around the track. Reading's team fought hard but simply could not handle The Minutemen, and with Uda-Thach crossing the line in 1:33.45, he not only earned the victory in the relay, but sealed a well deserved win for his team. While the meet was locked up, Wheaton, Kontothanassis, O'Hare Gibson, and Branndon Uda-Thach still wanted to make one final statement in the 4x4. They did just that. Battling through the first three legs before Uda-Thach took it home in a season best and League best time of 3:33.17. With that, the final score was Lexington 58, Reading 42.
For their part, the Lex Girls fought tooth and nail the entire meet to give themselves a shot to beat Reading without a number of their top athletes. In the end it was not enough as the Rockets pulled off a 56-44 victory over The Minutemen. Despite the tough loss, the Lex Girls had a number of standout performances. Perhaps none better than senior captain Uma Sanker. Beginning her day in the Mile, she made a statement in the first 400m that she was the one to beat. Gapping the field by nearly 10-seconds, she would breeze through the middle laps of the race before popping off a cool 72 second final quarter to win by over 20-seconds with a new PR of 5:17.01. Sanker was back later in the 1000m where she again was in control from the beginning and used another 72 second final 400m to win going away in a time of 3:15.23. Breakout freshmen Felice Haverly had the best day of her young LHS career. First turning in a PR and MIAA Division 1 qualifying time of 44.37 seconds in the 300m, Haverly then cleared 4'8" in the High Jump for the first time. She then finished her day off with a very strong 27.1-second split to anchor her 4x200m team of junior Jada Solomon, senior captain Rose O'Neill, and sophomore Laya Barghuthui to a season best and Divisional qualifying time of 1:51.88. Continuing to show the incredible potential she has in the event, junior Amandine Mangon improved her PR in the 55m Hurdles, and qualified for the Divisional Meet with a time of 9.57 seconds.
Other Highlights for the Boys
- Along with Uda-Thach and Kontothanassis, junior Khai Uda-Thach qualified for Divisionals in the 300m with a time of 37.56.
- In the 600m, Sam Simon (1:30.47), Nathan Cunningham (1:31.44), Nick Chipashvili (1:32.15), and freshmen Colin Smith (1:33.38) all managed to achieve the Middlesex League Championship standard.
- Sophomore Zach Barry had another big day in the 1000m; his 2:47.74 was a PR and just twenty-two hunderdths of the Divisional standard on his way to a hard earned third place finish.
- The Mile saw senior Aidan McPhee fight his way to a PR and League qualifying time of 4:52.16.
- Gerfen turned in a season best leap of 18'6.75" to qualify for the League Championships in the Long Jump.
Other Highlights for the Girls
- The Bomb Squad broke out the golden broom in the Shot Put with junior Quin Tandeih (30'9.50") qualifying for League; junior Cleo McBride (28'11") was second with a season best; freshman Ainsley Cuthbertson (28'6.75") was third.
- Along with Sanker's efforts, sophomore Tanvi Samavedam ran a PR of 5:57.64 to place second in the Mile; Sun finished off the sweep with a time of 5:58.32.
- Senior Ava Criniti ran 11:55.87 to qualify for the Divisional Championships in the 2 Mile; fellow classmates Jasmine Sun (12:28.95), and Ashley Taylor (13:07.83) helped to bust out the golden broom in the event, with Taylor's performance achieving the League standard for the first time this season.
Up Next
With the Reading Meet now behind them, The Minutemen will now turn to the Red and Black of Winchester for their first competition of 2023. The meet - at The Track at New Balance - will take place Thursday, January 5th at 4:30pm.