TANDEIH WINS FROSH/SOPH ATHLETE OF THE MEET; LEADS LHS TO 5 GOLD MEDALS
Meet Information
MSTCA Auerbach Freshman/Sophomore Meet
January 6, 2024
Reggie Lewis Center - Boston, MA
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - After a snowstorm threw the Bay State a curveball this weekend, the annual Freshman/Sophomore Meet was moved from Sunday morning to Saturday evening. Despite the change, The Minutemen showed up and dominated the competition. LHS turned in 25 season or personal bests, 13 Middlesex League Championship qualifiers, 8 MIAA Division 1 Championship qualifiers, won 5 individual events, and had an athletes place in 18 of 24 events between boys and girls. Quite an impressive performance by the underclassmen.
While the day was tremendous all around, The Minutemen were led by the incomparable performance of star sophomore Simon Tandeih. He earned a spot in the finals as the top qualifier out of the Heats in the 55m Hurdles with a time of 8.38 seconds. Then he blew away the competition in the finals, and won the event by over three-tenths of a second with a new PR of 8.16. Tandeih then headed to the High Jump apron. On the infield he came in at 5'2", and was clean over the bar all the way over 5'8". With that clean sheet, Lexington's sophomore sealed his second gold medal of the evening. However, his day was not yet finished. After he wrapped up the High Jump, Tandeih trotted out to lead off the 4x200m Relay along with fellow classmate Pranay Kochetca, and freshmen Sheryas Hanchinamani and Cayden Chambers. When the gun fired, he burst out from his four-point stance and flew around the track to the tune a 23.8 split. That efforted helped his team earn the silver medal in the event. And, with that, he earned himself the MSTCA coaches' vote for Boys Athlete of the Meet. Along with Tandeih's big day, Arjun Raha burst onto the scene in the 600m. The freshman went out hard, and came through the 400m mark in the lead with a 55.6 split. He then held on over the final lap of the race to earn the victory with a PR of 1:27.88. That makes him the first LHS athletes since Glenn Burcsu to win the 600m at the Freshman/Sophomore Meet, and the first freshman to win the event since former Somerville High School great Andre Rolim won back in 2010.
Embodying the "field first" mantra, the Lex Girls were dominant in the field events on Saturday. Sophomore Ainsley Cuthbertson began the day with a victory in the Shot Put. Her second throw of the competition flew nearly a foot farther than her previous PR, and landed at 33'6.50". That mark won the event by over three feet. To put into context Cuthbertson's dominance, five of her six throws landed at least a half-foot farther than the eventual second place finisher. The High Jump was next for The Minutemen, and it featured a preview of LHS v. Woburn rivalry that fans will see later this month, as sophomores Felice Haverly and Woburn's Kayleigh Curll went toe-to-toe. Both athletes were clean over 4'8", but it was Haverly's clearance of 4'10" on her first attempt that made the difference. Curll took three attempts to get over the bar at 4'10", and while they both cleared 5'0" on their final jumps, the fewer attempts by Haverly gave the Lex Girls their second gold of the evening. The final event to finish on Saturday was the Long Jump, which featured Aubrey Deardorf. The sophomore had the lead in the event going into finals, after she leapt to a season best distance of 16'7.50" in the prelims. However, King Philip's Alex D'Amadio dropped a bomb (17'7.75") in the final round to snatch victory, and what would have been a goldest of golden broom sweeps of the field events for LHS. Deardorf settled for silver, and had a very strong performance regardless of the outcome, with all six of her jumps going over 16 feet.
Other Highlights for the Boys
Other Highlights for the Girls
Up Next
It is rivalry week for The Minutemen, as they will go toe-to-toe with the Reading. The Rockets handed the Lex Girls a brutal loss last winter, while the Boys had all they could handle, and this year's meet is expected to follow similar storylines. Action will get underway at the Boston University Indoor Track & Tennis Center this Tuesday, January 9th at 4pm. Live results can be found HERE.
MSTCA Auerbach Freshman/Sophomore Meet
January 6, 2024
Reggie Lewis Center - Boston, MA
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - After a snowstorm threw the Bay State a curveball this weekend, the annual Freshman/Sophomore Meet was moved from Sunday morning to Saturday evening. Despite the change, The Minutemen showed up and dominated the competition. LHS turned in 25 season or personal bests, 13 Middlesex League Championship qualifiers, 8 MIAA Division 1 Championship qualifiers, won 5 individual events, and had an athletes place in 18 of 24 events between boys and girls. Quite an impressive performance by the underclassmen.
While the day was tremendous all around, The Minutemen were led by the incomparable performance of star sophomore Simon Tandeih. He earned a spot in the finals as the top qualifier out of the Heats in the 55m Hurdles with a time of 8.38 seconds. Then he blew away the competition in the finals, and won the event by over three-tenths of a second with a new PR of 8.16. Tandeih then headed to the High Jump apron. On the infield he came in at 5'2", and was clean over the bar all the way over 5'8". With that clean sheet, Lexington's sophomore sealed his second gold medal of the evening. However, his day was not yet finished. After he wrapped up the High Jump, Tandeih trotted out to lead off the 4x200m Relay along with fellow classmate Pranay Kochetca, and freshmen Sheryas Hanchinamani and Cayden Chambers. When the gun fired, he burst out from his four-point stance and flew around the track to the tune a 23.8 split. That efforted helped his team earn the silver medal in the event. And, with that, he earned himself the MSTCA coaches' vote for Boys Athlete of the Meet. Along with Tandeih's big day, Arjun Raha burst onto the scene in the 600m. The freshman went out hard, and came through the 400m mark in the lead with a 55.6 split. He then held on over the final lap of the race to earn the victory with a PR of 1:27.88. That makes him the first LHS athletes since Glenn Burcsu to win the 600m at the Freshman/Sophomore Meet, and the first freshman to win the event since former Somerville High School great Andre Rolim won back in 2010.
Embodying the "field first" mantra, the Lex Girls were dominant in the field events on Saturday. Sophomore Ainsley Cuthbertson began the day with a victory in the Shot Put. Her second throw of the competition flew nearly a foot farther than her previous PR, and landed at 33'6.50". That mark won the event by over three feet. To put into context Cuthbertson's dominance, five of her six throws landed at least a half-foot farther than the eventual second place finisher. The High Jump was next for The Minutemen, and it featured a preview of LHS v. Woburn rivalry that fans will see later this month, as sophomores Felice Haverly and Woburn's Kayleigh Curll went toe-to-toe. Both athletes were clean over 4'8", but it was Haverly's clearance of 4'10" on her first attempt that made the difference. Curll took three attempts to get over the bar at 4'10", and while they both cleared 5'0" on their final jumps, the fewer attempts by Haverly gave the Lex Girls their second gold of the evening. The final event to finish on Saturday was the Long Jump, which featured Aubrey Deardorf. The sophomore had the lead in the event going into finals, after she leapt to a season best distance of 16'7.50" in the prelims. However, King Philip's Alex D'Amadio dropped a bomb (17'7.75") in the final round to snatch victory, and what would have been a goldest of golden broom sweeps of the field events for LHS. Deardorf settled for silver, and had a very strong performance regardless of the outcome, with all six of her jumps going over 16 feet.
Other Highlights for the Boys
- Along with the big day for Raha, another freshman, Eli Selsky turned in a PR of 1:29.54 to earn a fifth place medal in the 600m.
- Freshman Owen Ross ran an incredible race in the Mile to place seventh overall; his time of 4:43.37 qualified him for the Freshmen Division at the New Balance Indoor Nationals.
- The 4x400m Relay of Selsky, sophomore Stefanos Konothanassis, Ross, and Raha placed sixth in 3:52.63.
- Kocheta turned in a leap of 19'2" in the Long Jump, which was nearly a foot farther than his season best, and placed him seventh.
- In the 2 Mile, it was freshman Trevor Stevens (10:17.98) who grinded his was to a PR and eighth place finish in the event.
- The Shot Put saw sophomore Christian Brown (36'11") drop a PR to place eighth overall.
Other Highlights for the Girls
- Before her performance on the Long Jump runway, Deardorf blasted through the 55m Dash to place fourth overall in 7.44 seconds; Haverly ran a massive PR of 7.70 second in the prelims, before she placed eighth in the finals.
- In the 55m Hurdles, freshman Emily Hoefkens placed fourth in the finals with a time of 9.82 seconds; her time in the prelims of 9.75 seconds was a PR.
- Another fourth place finish came for the Lex Girls in the form of sophomore Rose Neely; she ran a PR of 1:45.28, which qualified her for Divisionals.
- Freshman Callie Glenn (5:31.55) turned in a huge PR of her own in the Mile to place sixth overall, and qualified for Divisionals in the process.
- In the 4x200m Relay it was the freshmen quartet of Alyssa McKee, Hoefkens, June Reddy, and Iris Yu who placed sixth with a time of 1:55.41.
- The 2 Mile saw freshman Josie Bettencourt dip under 13 minutes for the first time, as she placed eighth with a PR of 12:58.73.
Up Next
It is rivalry week for The Minutemen, as they will go toe-to-toe with the Reading. The Rockets handed the Lex Girls a brutal loss last winter, while the Boys had all they could handle, and this year's meet is expected to follow similar storylines. Action will get underway at the Boston University Indoor Track & Tennis Center this Tuesday, January 9th at 4pm. Live results can be found HERE.