RIVALRY RENEWED: THE MINUTEMN AND TANNERS SPLIT REGULAR SEASON TITLES
Meet Information
Woburn Dual Meet
January 15, 2024
The Track at New Balance - Boston, MA
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - Any time The Minutemen and the Tanners get together, it is a classic meet. The two programs have lorded over Middlesex League Track & Field for the last 10 years. Indoors, Lexington and Woburn have won 15 of 16 Boys and Girls League Championships, since the meet began in 2014, with the one exception being the Burlington Girls' 2022 victory by one point over LHS. Monday afternoon, the two titans came together once again, with not one loss between the Boys or Girls Teams. As always, they brought the best out of each other. While Lexington's Boys have been dominant in League competition this season - winning each meet by an average score of 63 points - the Tanners put them to the test. The meet was back-and-forth throughout the afternoon until The Minutemen's 4x200m Relay of seniors Victor Yu, captain Khai Uda-Thach, McKenna O'Hare Gibson, and junior Tim George put a stamp on the victory in the form of a MA #4 time of 1:30.83. That time would qualify the team for the New Balance Indoor Nationals. And, LHS would go on to win the meet 59-41. As they have all season long, the Lex Girls fought their hearts out. They have made a habit of grabbing victories from the clutches of defeat all winter. However, despite 15 PRs on the day, the Tanners simply had too much firepower and took home the win by a score of 63-37. With that The Minutemen walked away as Boys ML-12 Liberty Division Champions, while Woburn took home their third straight Girls Division Title.
Things got off to a blazing start in the Boys Meet. Sophomore Simon Tandeih appeared to figure something out last week when he won the Freshman/Sophomore Meet in the 55m Hurdles, because he blazed his way to a PR and Nationals qualifier of 7.96 against Woburn. That performance makes Tandeih only the fifth hurdler in LHS history to break eight seconds in the event. Perhaps the most dramatic event of the day on the boys' side was the 600m. Woburn clearly had the plan to throw everything they had at LHS's Mid-D crew early on, and see how they responded. Five Tanners blazed out to the lead early, firing every shot they had at juniors James Joseph and Kabir Gokarn. However, the junior duo remained calm through 400m, and fought their way back. Joseph blew past Woburn's Tyler Pendergast in the final stretch to take the victory with a PR of 1:26.53, while Gokarn battled all the way up to third place and his first ever MIAA Division 1 qualifying performance with a time of 1:28.02. After the scoring events were completed, sophomore Aidan Raney took to the Pole Vault runway, and quite simply put on a show. After clearing 11'0" earlier in the season to establish the LHS Indoor Record, Raney soared to new heights. With his entire team cheering him down the runway he flew over the bar on his third attempt at 12'0", and then was able to take one more jump before the facility was closing. That final jump was easily his best of the night, and set the new LHS record at 12'6".
The Girls Meet saw plenty of great performances for LHS, but perhaps the best of the best was from sophomore Felice Haverly. As was the case with Tandeih's performance, Haverly put herself in rarefied eher on Monday night. The sophomore ran an incredible middle section of the 300m, and crossed the line in 42.00 to establish a new personal best. That performance, which was #7 all time for LHS, puts her only behind legends such as Aleia Gisolfi-McCready (LHS '21), Mari McBride (LHS '22), Robin Gross (LHS '13) and others whose names are splattered across the Team's record books. A major shoutout also need to go to the Distance Squad for laying their hearts on the line of their team. By the time sophomore Meghan Caldera, and freshmen Erin Ehmann and Josie Bettencourt got on the track for the 2 Mile, they had to somehow place first and second in the event against Middlesex League Cross Country MVP senior Sinead Butler to keep their team's hope of winning alive. Through the first mile, Caldera and Ehmann had stuck with Butler - who had been pushed the the limit in the Mile earlier by LHS's Lucy Kontos - as they came through between 6:11 and 6:14. Then Caldera threw in a surge and was able to break away from Butler and Ehmann. That surge proved to be enough to carry her to victory in a season best time of 12:13.94. Meanwhile, Ehmann simply would not give in to the moves Butler was putting on over the final eight laps of the race. With 400m to go, the issue was still in doubt. Butler then made a move on the final lap and simply went to a level the freshman could not go to grab second place and the points her team needed to win the meet. For her efforts Ehmann - who just a month ago had never broken 13:10 for two miles - ran an incredible race and finished with a time of 12:31.38. Another huge performance was turned in by senior Samara McVey and sophomore Prachi Aggarwal in the 1000m. Going up against Woburn's Kayla Buback and Riley Anderson, who came in with PRs of 3:05, the thought of breaking them up was a tall ask for LHS's athletes with PRs of 3:14 and 3:22. However, Woburn's girls appeared to be relying on their kicks as they took the race out in a modest pace. Aggarwal made a strong move in the middle of the race to force the hands of Buback and Anderson, and then McVey used a vicious finishing kick to best Anderson around the final curve and secure second place with a time of 3:18.00. For her efforts Aggarwal earned a new personal best of 3:19.85, just hundredths of a second off third place.
Other Highlights for the Boys
Other Highlights for the Girls
Up Next
The Minutemen will head to Roxbury this Saturday for the MSTCA Division 1 Relays. The meet is an annual test of depth, as well as a look at who will likely compete for the right to call themselves State Champions in February. Action will get underway at the Reggie Lewis Center at 9:00am this Saturday, January 20th.
Woburn Dual Meet
January 15, 2024
The Track at New Balance - Boston, MA
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - Any time The Minutemen and the Tanners get together, it is a classic meet. The two programs have lorded over Middlesex League Track & Field for the last 10 years. Indoors, Lexington and Woburn have won 15 of 16 Boys and Girls League Championships, since the meet began in 2014, with the one exception being the Burlington Girls' 2022 victory by one point over LHS. Monday afternoon, the two titans came together once again, with not one loss between the Boys or Girls Teams. As always, they brought the best out of each other. While Lexington's Boys have been dominant in League competition this season - winning each meet by an average score of 63 points - the Tanners put them to the test. The meet was back-and-forth throughout the afternoon until The Minutemen's 4x200m Relay of seniors Victor Yu, captain Khai Uda-Thach, McKenna O'Hare Gibson, and junior Tim George put a stamp on the victory in the form of a MA #4 time of 1:30.83. That time would qualify the team for the New Balance Indoor Nationals. And, LHS would go on to win the meet 59-41. As they have all season long, the Lex Girls fought their hearts out. They have made a habit of grabbing victories from the clutches of defeat all winter. However, despite 15 PRs on the day, the Tanners simply had too much firepower and took home the win by a score of 63-37. With that The Minutemen walked away as Boys ML-12 Liberty Division Champions, while Woburn took home their third straight Girls Division Title.
Things got off to a blazing start in the Boys Meet. Sophomore Simon Tandeih appeared to figure something out last week when he won the Freshman/Sophomore Meet in the 55m Hurdles, because he blazed his way to a PR and Nationals qualifier of 7.96 against Woburn. That performance makes Tandeih only the fifth hurdler in LHS history to break eight seconds in the event. Perhaps the most dramatic event of the day on the boys' side was the 600m. Woburn clearly had the plan to throw everything they had at LHS's Mid-D crew early on, and see how they responded. Five Tanners blazed out to the lead early, firing every shot they had at juniors James Joseph and Kabir Gokarn. However, the junior duo remained calm through 400m, and fought their way back. Joseph blew past Woburn's Tyler Pendergast in the final stretch to take the victory with a PR of 1:26.53, while Gokarn battled all the way up to third place and his first ever MIAA Division 1 qualifying performance with a time of 1:28.02. After the scoring events were completed, sophomore Aidan Raney took to the Pole Vault runway, and quite simply put on a show. After clearing 11'0" earlier in the season to establish the LHS Indoor Record, Raney soared to new heights. With his entire team cheering him down the runway he flew over the bar on his third attempt at 12'0", and then was able to take one more jump before the facility was closing. That final jump was easily his best of the night, and set the new LHS record at 12'6".
The Girls Meet saw plenty of great performances for LHS, but perhaps the best of the best was from sophomore Felice Haverly. As was the case with Tandeih's performance, Haverly put herself in rarefied eher on Monday night. The sophomore ran an incredible middle section of the 300m, and crossed the line in 42.00 to establish a new personal best. That performance, which was #7 all time for LHS, puts her only behind legends such as Aleia Gisolfi-McCready (LHS '21), Mari McBride (LHS '22), Robin Gross (LHS '13) and others whose names are splattered across the Team's record books. A major shoutout also need to go to the Distance Squad for laying their hearts on the line of their team. By the time sophomore Meghan Caldera, and freshmen Erin Ehmann and Josie Bettencourt got on the track for the 2 Mile, they had to somehow place first and second in the event against Middlesex League Cross Country MVP senior Sinead Butler to keep their team's hope of winning alive. Through the first mile, Caldera and Ehmann had stuck with Butler - who had been pushed the the limit in the Mile earlier by LHS's Lucy Kontos - as they came through between 6:11 and 6:14. Then Caldera threw in a surge and was able to break away from Butler and Ehmann. That surge proved to be enough to carry her to victory in a season best time of 12:13.94. Meanwhile, Ehmann simply would not give in to the moves Butler was putting on over the final eight laps of the race. With 400m to go, the issue was still in doubt. Butler then made a move on the final lap and simply went to a level the freshman could not go to grab second place and the points her team needed to win the meet. For her efforts Ehmann - who just a month ago had never broken 13:10 for two miles - ran an incredible race and finished with a time of 12:31.38. Another huge performance was turned in by senior Samara McVey and sophomore Prachi Aggarwal in the 1000m. Going up against Woburn's Kayla Buback and Riley Anderson, who came in with PRs of 3:05, the thought of breaking them up was a tall ask for LHS's athletes with PRs of 3:14 and 3:22. However, Woburn's girls appeared to be relying on their kicks as they took the race out in a modest pace. Aggarwal made a strong move in the middle of the race to force the hands of Buback and Anderson, and then McVey used a vicious finishing kick to best Anderson around the final curve and secure second place with a time of 3:18.00. For her efforts Aggarwal earned a new personal best of 3:19.85, just hundredths of a second off third place.
Other Highlights for the Boys
- In the 300m, O'Hare Gibson and Uda-Thach returned to form with a pair of Divisional qualifying times, as the two ran 35.57 and 36.42 respectively.
- Yu began his day with a Division 1 qualifying time of 6.81 seconds in the 55m Dash.
- Junior Will Fletcher qualified for Divisionals with a PR of 2:43.08 in the 1000m.
- The 2 Mile saw freshman Patrick Noonan continue his mid-season surge, as he qualified for Divisionals with a PR of 9:55.87.
- In the 55m Hurdles junior Ryan Zhang ran a PR of 8.18 seconds to qualify for the Division 1 Championships.
Other Highlights for the Girls
- Both Caldera's and Ehmann's times in the 2 Mile qualified them for Divisionals.
- Seniors Amandine Mangon (9.12) and captain Katie Atkins (9.55) ran Indoor bests in the 55m Hurdles to achieve the Division 1 standard.
- Kontos's time of 5:28.48 in the Mile was a near 10-second personal best, and qualified her for Divisionals.
- The 4x200m Relay of senior Carson Cheng, sophomore Bruguers Sagues, freshman Emily Hoefkens, and sophomore Aubrey Deardorf ran a huge season best time of 1:50.51 to qualify for Divisionals.
- Along with Haverly's big day, senior captain Jada Solomon (45.20) had a major breakout performance in the 300m to qualify for the Middlesex League Championships; freshman Alyssa McKee made a strong debut in the event as well with a time of 45.67 seconds.
- In the 55m Dash, Sagues turned in a PR of 7.85 seconds, which gave her the League mark; she also leapt to a season best of 15'1.50" in the Long Jump.
- Sophomore Sophie "Snacks" Johnson came up with two massive clearances of the High Jump bar on her third attempts; she ended up jumping 4'6" to place third for her team in her first time competing in the event in high school.
- Atkins flew over 10'6" to match her PR in the Pole Vault.
- In the 20lb. Weight Throw senior Quin Tandeih threw a PR of 39'7.75".
Up Next
The Minutemen will head to Roxbury this Saturday for the MSTCA Division 1 Relays. The meet is an annual test of depth, as well as a look at who will likely compete for the right to call themselves State Champions in February. Action will get underway at the Reggie Lewis Center at 9:00am this Saturday, January 20th.