NATIONAL QUALIFIERS HIGHTLIGHT A PAIR OF 79-21 VICTORIES OVER WINCHESTER
Meet Information
Winchester Dual Meet
January 5, 2023
The Track at New Balance - Boston, MA
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - The Minutemen were back in Brighton for their first meet of 2023. On both the Boys' and Girls' sides this was the strongest team performances to date, as the squads turned in 49 season or personal bests, including 19 Middlesex League Championship qualifying marks, 10 MIAA Division 1 qualifiers, 2 LHS records, and a pair of qualifiers for the National Championships to cap it all off en route to identical 79-21 victories.
The highlight of the Girls meet came in the 600m as LHS senior captain Uma Sanker went up against Winchester's top sprinter, senior Tessa Geddes. A 300m specialist, Geddes is one of the top ranked girls in Massachusetts. When the gun went off, the Winchester senior blasted out the the lead, with Sanker laying just a half-second off the pace. Geddes began pulling away in the second lap of the race, widening her lead as the two approached the bell lap. However, with a strong charge, Sanker pulled even and the two exchanged elbows as they came to the top of the homestretch. In the end, Geddes (1:38.91) would hold on to win a narrow victory by eight-hundredths of a second over Sanker (1:38.99). Despite the defeat, Sanker raced her way to a MA #8 time, and qualified for the New Balance Indoor Nationals in March. Building on the team's earlier success, junior Katie Atkins brought things to new heights for the Lex Girls. The LHS record holder in the Indoor and Outdoor Pole Vault improved her record by one-foot, clearing the bar at 10'0" for the first time. Along with Atkins' historic performance, Felice Haverly (7.98 seconds) achieved a feat not done by an LHS sprinter since 2020 by breaking the elusive eight-second barrier in the 55m Dash.
On the Boys side it was senior captain Jack Ngo who became The Minutemen's second thrower this season to qualify for the National Championships in the 25lb. Weight Throw. Ngo's first throw of the competition flew 57'10.50" landing him at US #22 in the event. Before Ngo was dropping bombs in the throwing area, fellow classmate and captain Jayden Bai was blazing his way down the straightaway in the 55m. Bai was clocked at 6.76 seconds winning the event in the fastest time run by an LHS sprinter since 2018. Speaking of history, another senior captain, Alexios Kontothanassis turned in a massive PR in the Triple Jump of 42'11.75". That mark bested his PR from last Outdoor Season by nearly two-feet, and improves his own LHS Indoor record in the event.
Other Highlights for the Girls
Other Highlights for the Boys
Up Next
The underclassmen will now take center stage as The Minutemen will travel to the MSTCA Auerbach Freshmen/Sophomore Meet this Saturday, January 7th. The meet - at the Reggie Lewis Center - will begin at 10am.
Winchester Dual Meet
January 5, 2023
The Track at New Balance - Boston, MA
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - The Minutemen were back in Brighton for their first meet of 2023. On both the Boys' and Girls' sides this was the strongest team performances to date, as the squads turned in 49 season or personal bests, including 19 Middlesex League Championship qualifying marks, 10 MIAA Division 1 qualifiers, 2 LHS records, and a pair of qualifiers for the National Championships to cap it all off en route to identical 79-21 victories.
The highlight of the Girls meet came in the 600m as LHS senior captain Uma Sanker went up against Winchester's top sprinter, senior Tessa Geddes. A 300m specialist, Geddes is one of the top ranked girls in Massachusetts. When the gun went off, the Winchester senior blasted out the the lead, with Sanker laying just a half-second off the pace. Geddes began pulling away in the second lap of the race, widening her lead as the two approached the bell lap. However, with a strong charge, Sanker pulled even and the two exchanged elbows as they came to the top of the homestretch. In the end, Geddes (1:38.91) would hold on to win a narrow victory by eight-hundredths of a second over Sanker (1:38.99). Despite the defeat, Sanker raced her way to a MA #8 time, and qualified for the New Balance Indoor Nationals in March. Building on the team's earlier success, junior Katie Atkins brought things to new heights for the Lex Girls. The LHS record holder in the Indoor and Outdoor Pole Vault improved her record by one-foot, clearing the bar at 10'0" for the first time. Along with Atkins' historic performance, Felice Haverly (7.98 seconds) achieved a feat not done by an LHS sprinter since 2020 by breaking the elusive eight-second barrier in the 55m Dash.
On the Boys side it was senior captain Jack Ngo who became The Minutemen's second thrower this season to qualify for the National Championships in the 25lb. Weight Throw. Ngo's first throw of the competition flew 57'10.50" landing him at US #22 in the event. Before Ngo was dropping bombs in the throwing area, fellow classmate and captain Jayden Bai was blazing his way down the straightaway in the 55m. Bai was clocked at 6.76 seconds winning the event in the fastest time run by an LHS sprinter since 2018. Speaking of history, another senior captain, Alexios Kontothanassis turned in a massive PR in the Triple Jump of 42'11.75". That mark bested his PR from last Outdoor Season by nearly two-feet, and improves his own LHS Indoor record in the event.
Other Highlights for the Girls
- In addition to her big day on the Pole Vault runway, Atkins turned in a nearly half-second PR to win the 55m High Hurdles in a League Championship qualifying time of 9.81 seconds.
- Junior Noa Helmbrecht (8.06) and sophomore Laya Barghuthi (8.10) followed Haverly with PRs in the 55m Dash.
- The 300m saw junior Adia Singh (45.27) qualify for Divisionals; junior Jada Solomon ran a League qualifying time of 45.67.
- Freshman Meghan Caldera (3:25.74) and sophomore Tanvi Samavedam (3:25.75) dropped down to the 1000m and both qualified for the League Meet.
- In the Mile, senior Jasmine Sun (5:33.73) ran a PR to win the event; freshman Thayer DiCerbo (5:50.04) and junior Samara McVey (5:50.34) busted out the the golden broom, sweeping the event with a pair of League qualifying times.
- Senior Ashley Taylor qualified for the 2 Mile at Divisionals with her time of 12:41.76; freshman Mirei Saneyoshi ran 13:14.01 to qualify for League.
- Leading the way for LHS's "Bomb Squad" was freshman Ainsley Cuthbertson who won the event with a throw of 31'7.50".
Other Highlights for the Boys
- Both junior Jacob Pan and freshman Simon Tandeih ran identical times of 8.79 seconds to break the nine-second barrier for the first times in the 55m Hurdles.
- Before the Triple Jump, Kontothanassis became the sixth LHS sprinter this season to break seven seconds in the 55m with a League qualifying time of 6.91.
- Bai was back in the 300m with a PR and Divisional qualifying time of 36.95; junior McKenna O'Hare Gibson (37.17) was right behind him, while senior Sam Simon (38.47) brought out the golden broom to sweep the event with a League qualifying time.
- In the 1000m, senior Antonio Lopez (2:46.78) made his season debut with a Divisional qualifying time; freshman Colin Smith (2:53.83) made the League qualifying time with his PR performance.
- Junior Joey "Candy Man" Ryan (4:44.85), and sophomores Max Zhang (4:47.71) and Zach Barry (4:53.86) all qualified for League in the Mile.
- The 2 Mile saw junior Nayan Das and senior captain Aidan McPhee run nearly identical League qualifiers of 10:25.46 and 10:25.54 respectively.
- Senior Gerry Gong achieved the D1 standard in the Long Jump with a leap of 19'11".
- Ngo (46'5"), senior Allen Jiang (46'2.50"), and junior "Downtown" Elijah Brown (40'10.75") took out the golden broom to sweep the Boys Shot Put; Brown's throw extends the "Bomb Squad's" streak of having three throwers over 40-feet to five consecutive years.
Up Next
The underclassmen will now take center stage as The Minutemen will travel to the MSTCA Auerbach Freshmen/Sophomore Meet this Saturday, January 7th. The meet - at the Reggie Lewis Center - will begin at 10am.