D1 RELAYS SEES NATIONAL QUALIFIERS, A SCHOOL RECORD & RUNNER-UP FINISH FOR LHS
Meet Information
MSTCA Division 1 Relays
January 17, 2025
Reggie Lewis Center - Boston, MA
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - On Friday night, Reggie Lewis was rocking for what turned out to be a tremendous installment of the annual MSTCA Division 1 Relays. For The Minutemen, Relays offered them their first opportunity to see how they measured up to the best large schools in the state with the MIAA Division 1 Championship less than four weeks away. On the girls' side, LHS scored in eight of ten events on their way to 45.50 points and a runner-up finish to Newton North's 64 points. In the boys' meet, St. John's Prep ran away with the team title, as they managed to score 65 points. Meanwhile, Lexington turned in a solid fifth place finish with 25 points of their own.
The runner-up finish for the Lex girls' took a complete team effort. The hurdle crew of sophomore Emily Hoefkens, junior Monjola Finnih, and freshmen Ella Pan and Cynthia Gu got the scoring started for LHS with a fifth place finish (31.86 seconds) in the Shuttle Hurdles. That was followed up immediately by a sixth place finish in the Shuttle Dash from the team of juniors Bruguers Sagues and Aubrey Deardorf, along with freshman Natalie Seed, and Hoefkens in (25.28 seconds). With that, The Minutemen picked up seven quick points to begin the meet. Meanwhile in the Shot Put ring, the junior trio of Ainsley Cuthbertson (35'6.50"), Ella Wolosoff (29'6"), and Emily Wondolowski (26'9.75") proved yet again to be the golden wall that their team can lean on. The Bomb Squad broke their combined season bests by over eight feet to rocket up the board to an eventual third place finish. Their performance delivered six points for Lexington. From there, the meet turned to the oval, where the fireworks got going.
Sophomore Callie Glenn had Lexington's 4x800m Relay in fifth place after a 2:25.2 split before she gave the baton over to her freshman teammates. Up next was Mackenzie Callahan, who carried the team up into second with a strong run of 2:23.7 before handing off to Janie Conrad. The Minutemen's top cross country runner got the baton just three seconds behind the reigning state champ on the trails, Needham's Greta Hammer. Needham's star junior stretched her team's lead over the opening quarter mile. However, Conrad (2:26.1) was able to rally herself and with a strong final lap pulled her team back to within three seconds of Needham going on to the anchor leg. From there, Lexington's freshman phenom Amelia Whorton was waiting to make her mark on race. Whorton blazed around the track to the tune of a 29-second opening 200m, which vaulted LHS into the lead. From there she powered around the Reggie oval for three more laps. And, with her teammates cheering her through the finish line, broke the tape with a sensational 2:12.1 split to earn the victory for The Minutemen in a time of 9:27.33. In addition to winning the race by nearly 10 seconds and picking up 10 big points for their team, the relay's mark qualified Lexington for the New Balance Indoor Nationals. Later in the meet, the sprint crew took center stage in the 4x200m Relay. Deardorf got things off to hot start with a 26.7 split before Sagues kept LHS in the lead with a 26.8 split of her own. A speedy baton exchange with sophomore Marissa Hao kept Lexington in the lead, and Hao (27.4) turned in a great leg of her own to give junior Felice Haverly a chance on the anchor. Methuen star Lauren Quarm battled her way into the lead down the backstretch, but Haverly gave one final charge at the finish to try and grab victory. Her run fell just short, though, and Lexington settled for silver and eight points after Haverly's strong split of 26.4 gave the team a season best time of 1:47.41. Along with the big run in the 4x800m, Glenn, Callahan, Whorton, and Conrad were back in the Distance Medley Relay later in the meet. There, they managed a third place finish with a time of 12:32.74 that gave them their second national qualifier of the night. Along with the qualifier, their six points clinched the team's runner-up finish in the overall standings.
Perhaps the highlight of the night for the boys came in the Long Jump Relay. After two fouls, junior captain Simon Tandeih had one chance to deliver a legal jump or his team would be fouled out of the competition. With everything on the line, Tandeih turned in a season best leap of 20'10". That mark combined with the leaps of fellow classmates Cleavon Manor Jr (20'5.25") and Pranay Kocheta (19'1.25") earned The Minutemen a fourth place finish with a total distance of 60'4.50". Along with the points for their team, their mark broke the LHS record set back in 2001. Earlier in the meet, Tandeih and Manor Jr teamed up with senior captain Ryan Zhang and junior Panos Kokkinias in the Shuttle Hurdle Relay. Zhang, Kokkinias, and Manor Jr all delivered strong legs that had Tandeih - LHS's top hurdler - in position to bring home the victory. However, as Tandeih approached the first hurdle, a member of the meet's hurdle crew inexplicably ran into his lane. Tandeih narrowly avoided a collision with the volunteer, but the incident completely threw off his race. In the end Lexington settled for fourth in a time of 26.08 seconds. That mark still gave them the national qualifying mark, which makes its three years in a row that LHS's boys have qualified for the Shuttle Hurdles at the National Championships. The Minutemen turned in another national qualifying performance on the day, this time in the 4x800m Relay. The team of seniors James Joseph (2:00.3), Nathan Cunningham (2:05.4), Zach Barry (2:01.1), and Max Zhang (2:00.9) turned in a time of 8:07.78 to place fourth overall.
Other Highlights for the Girls
Final Girls Team Scores (Top 10)
1. Newton North - 64
2. Lexington - 45.50
3. Andover - 34
4. Central Catholic - 29
5. Weymouth - 27.5
6. Needham - 25
7. Natick - 24.50
8. Methuen - 21.50
9. Acton-Boxborough - 20
10. Framingham - 17
Other Highlights for the Boys
Final Boys Team Scores (Top 10)
1. St. John's Prep - 65
2. Newton North - 38
3. Central Catholic - 34
4. Brockton - 31
5. Lexington - 25
6. Lowell - 24
7. Acton-Boxborough - 22
8. B.C. High - 17
9. Brookline - 16
10. Shrewsbury - 14
10. Attleboro - 14
Up Next
The Minutemen will return to Middlesex League action on Monday, January 20th as they face off against the Red and Black of Winchester. The meet - at the TRACK at New Balance - begins at 9am.
MSTCA Division 1 Relays
January 17, 2025
Reggie Lewis Center - Boston, MA
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - On Friday night, Reggie Lewis was rocking for what turned out to be a tremendous installment of the annual MSTCA Division 1 Relays. For The Minutemen, Relays offered them their first opportunity to see how they measured up to the best large schools in the state with the MIAA Division 1 Championship less than four weeks away. On the girls' side, LHS scored in eight of ten events on their way to 45.50 points and a runner-up finish to Newton North's 64 points. In the boys' meet, St. John's Prep ran away with the team title, as they managed to score 65 points. Meanwhile, Lexington turned in a solid fifth place finish with 25 points of their own.
The runner-up finish for the Lex girls' took a complete team effort. The hurdle crew of sophomore Emily Hoefkens, junior Monjola Finnih, and freshmen Ella Pan and Cynthia Gu got the scoring started for LHS with a fifth place finish (31.86 seconds) in the Shuttle Hurdles. That was followed up immediately by a sixth place finish in the Shuttle Dash from the team of juniors Bruguers Sagues and Aubrey Deardorf, along with freshman Natalie Seed, and Hoefkens in (25.28 seconds). With that, The Minutemen picked up seven quick points to begin the meet. Meanwhile in the Shot Put ring, the junior trio of Ainsley Cuthbertson (35'6.50"), Ella Wolosoff (29'6"), and Emily Wondolowski (26'9.75") proved yet again to be the golden wall that their team can lean on. The Bomb Squad broke their combined season bests by over eight feet to rocket up the board to an eventual third place finish. Their performance delivered six points for Lexington. From there, the meet turned to the oval, where the fireworks got going.
Sophomore Callie Glenn had Lexington's 4x800m Relay in fifth place after a 2:25.2 split before she gave the baton over to her freshman teammates. Up next was Mackenzie Callahan, who carried the team up into second with a strong run of 2:23.7 before handing off to Janie Conrad. The Minutemen's top cross country runner got the baton just three seconds behind the reigning state champ on the trails, Needham's Greta Hammer. Needham's star junior stretched her team's lead over the opening quarter mile. However, Conrad (2:26.1) was able to rally herself and with a strong final lap pulled her team back to within three seconds of Needham going on to the anchor leg. From there, Lexington's freshman phenom Amelia Whorton was waiting to make her mark on race. Whorton blazed around the track to the tune of a 29-second opening 200m, which vaulted LHS into the lead. From there she powered around the Reggie oval for three more laps. And, with her teammates cheering her through the finish line, broke the tape with a sensational 2:12.1 split to earn the victory for The Minutemen in a time of 9:27.33. In addition to winning the race by nearly 10 seconds and picking up 10 big points for their team, the relay's mark qualified Lexington for the New Balance Indoor Nationals. Later in the meet, the sprint crew took center stage in the 4x200m Relay. Deardorf got things off to hot start with a 26.7 split before Sagues kept LHS in the lead with a 26.8 split of her own. A speedy baton exchange with sophomore Marissa Hao kept Lexington in the lead, and Hao (27.4) turned in a great leg of her own to give junior Felice Haverly a chance on the anchor. Methuen star Lauren Quarm battled her way into the lead down the backstretch, but Haverly gave one final charge at the finish to try and grab victory. Her run fell just short, though, and Lexington settled for silver and eight points after Haverly's strong split of 26.4 gave the team a season best time of 1:47.41. Along with the big run in the 4x800m, Glenn, Callahan, Whorton, and Conrad were back in the Distance Medley Relay later in the meet. There, they managed a third place finish with a time of 12:32.74 that gave them their second national qualifier of the night. Along with the qualifier, their six points clinched the team's runner-up finish in the overall standings.
Perhaps the highlight of the night for the boys came in the Long Jump Relay. After two fouls, junior captain Simon Tandeih had one chance to deliver a legal jump or his team would be fouled out of the competition. With everything on the line, Tandeih turned in a season best leap of 20'10". That mark combined with the leaps of fellow classmates Cleavon Manor Jr (20'5.25") and Pranay Kocheta (19'1.25") earned The Minutemen a fourth place finish with a total distance of 60'4.50". Along with the points for their team, their mark broke the LHS record set back in 2001. Earlier in the meet, Tandeih and Manor Jr teamed up with senior captain Ryan Zhang and junior Panos Kokkinias in the Shuttle Hurdle Relay. Zhang, Kokkinias, and Manor Jr all delivered strong legs that had Tandeih - LHS's top hurdler - in position to bring home the victory. However, as Tandeih approached the first hurdle, a member of the meet's hurdle crew inexplicably ran into his lane. Tandeih narrowly avoided a collision with the volunteer, but the incident completely threw off his race. In the end Lexington settled for fourth in a time of 26.08 seconds. That mark still gave them the national qualifying mark, which makes its three years in a row that LHS's boys have qualified for the Shuttle Hurdles at the National Championships. The Minutemen turned in another national qualifying performance on the day, this time in the 4x800m Relay. The team of seniors James Joseph (2:00.3), Nathan Cunningham (2:05.4), Zach Barry (2:01.1), and Max Zhang (2:00.9) turned in a time of 8:07.78 to place fourth overall.
Other Highlights for the Girls
- Haverly (4'10.25") teamed up with freshmen Charvi Talupuru (4'7.75") and Sabina Green (4'7.75") in the High Jump Relay to place fourth.
- In the Long Jump Relay, Deardorf (16'5"), junior Iris Yu (15'2.25"), and Sagues (15'1.25") earned a fifth place finish.
- Senior captain Claire Cunningham anchored the 4x400m Relay of Haverly, Kvaal, and Hao to a season best time of 4:17.91 with a 63.6 split, as they team finished ninth overall.
- The Sprint Medley Relay team of freshman Kashish Kumar, Hoefkens, junior Anika Steinbrecher, and freshman C.C. Kvaal finished 12th in 4:28.04.
Final Girls Team Scores (Top 10)
1. Newton North - 64
2. Lexington - 45.50
3. Andover - 34
4. Central Catholic - 29
5. Weymouth - 27.5
6. Needham - 25
7. Natick - 24.50
8. Methuen - 21.50
9. Acton-Boxborough - 20
10. Framingham - 17
Other Highlights for the Boys
- Sophomore Patrick Noonan, freshman Matteo Sanchez de Rojas, and sophomores Eric House and Trevor Stevens turned in a time of 10:50.94 to earn themselves a sixth place finish overall.
- In the 4x400m Relay, sophomores Cayden Chambers and Sheryas Hanchinamani combined with Barry and Joseph to place sixth in 3:35.04.
- Sophomore Arjun Raha delivered a 2:01.4 anchor leg for the Sprint Medley Relay, which helped his team of Kokkinias, junior Y.T. Zhang, and senior Will Fletcher earn seventh place in 3:47.70.
- Lexington's 'B' Team of Kocheta, senior Shariff Robinson Jr, and sophomores Adwait Patki and Ben Alperovich delivered a surprise seventh place finish with a time of 22.16 seconds in the Shuttle Dash; the 'A' Team of Chambers, Ryan Zhang, sophomore Luis Linares Gutierrez, and senior Tim George were 13th in 22.77.
- The 4x200m Relay of Chambers, Hanchinamani, Linares Gutierrez, and George finished ninth overall in 1:34.21.
Final Boys Team Scores (Top 10)
1. St. John's Prep - 65
2. Newton North - 38
3. Central Catholic - 34
4. Brockton - 31
5. Lexington - 25
6. Lowell - 24
7. Acton-Boxborough - 22
8. B.C. High - 17
9. Brookline - 16
10. Shrewsbury - 14
10. Attleboro - 14
Up Next
The Minutemen will return to Middlesex League action on Monday, January 20th as they face off against the Red and Black of Winchester. The meet - at the TRACK at New Balance - begins at 9am.