BOYS SHUTTLE HURDLE RELAY EARNS LHS'S 4th ALL-AMERICAN HONORS IN 4 DAYS
Meet Information
New Balance Indoor Nationals Day 4
March 15, 2025
the TRACK at New Balance - Boston, MA
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - On Sunday, The Minutemen returned to the TRACK at New Balance to cap off the 2025-2026 Indoor track & field season. As is tradition at New Balance Nationals, the final day of competition began with the shuttle hurdles. Over the last six years, Lexington High School has built one of the premier hurdle squads in Massachusetts under Coach Ashleigh Marks. LHS's boys have been particularly deep, as they have qualified for the shuttle hurdles at New Balance Nationals both indoors and outdoors in each of the last three years. Despite ups and downs in the event over the years, the circumstances surrounding the 2026 hurdle squad's performance at Nationals were unlike anything the team has seen before.
Back in January the relay of senior captain Simon Tandeih, sophomore Nicholas Perroud, senior captain Aidan Raney, and senior Panos Kokkinias shattered the LHS record in the 50y shuttle hurdles, which earned them their spot at Nationals. Unfortunately, in the weeks leading up to Nationals, Kokkinias, the second fastest hurdler on the relay, went down with a hamstring injury. That meant The Minutemen had to call on sophomore Yash Sankholkar, who's PR is nearly a full second slower than that of Kokkinias, to step in as the team competed in the 55m shuttle hurdles on Sunday. With the "next man up" mentality, the hurdle squad loaded into the blocks in the sixth of seven sections. Tandeih got the team out well, and sent Raney back down the straightaway just behind the team from IMG Academy (FL). Raney struggled over the early hurdles, and neither Perroud or Sankholkar were able to get the team back in the mix, as their time of 32.35 seconds left them in 15th place. However, as soon as the race ended, Raney ran over to the LHS's coaches to point out that ahead of his leg, another athlete knocked one of the hurdles in his lane off its mark. Video evidence, which, unlike at MIAA meets, is allowed to be utilized at Nationals, proved Raney was correct. After the team successfully filed a protest, they were afforded a solo re-run of the race just 13 minutes after they finished their initial race. And so, the team reloaded, and took one final shot. Tandeih got the team out extremely well, and then Raney, Perroud, and Sankholkar each delivered much stronger legs on the re-run. In the end, Sankholkar crossed the line, and stopped the clock at 31.22 seconds, which landed them in seventh place, just one-hundredth-of-a-second ahead of their fellow Bay Staters from Lowell.
While the team beat all expectations, and even broke the LHS record set last winter at this meet, there was a level of disappointment that they just missed out on a top-six finish that would have earned them All-American honors. However, that disappointment soon switched to euphoria when the results were finally marked official. It turned out that the team from Notre Dame (NJ), who placed fourth, was disqualified for an exchange zone violation. Miraculously, that meant the Minutemen earned LHS's fourth All-American honors of the weekend!
Other Highlights from the Meet
The 2025-2026 Indoor track & field season is now officially in the history books. It was a tale of two seasons for LHS this year. The Lex girls boasted 8 individual athletes who qualified for Nationals this winter, each of whom laid the foundation for what is likely the greatest track & field team in the sport's long and storied history in Massachusetts. They steamrolled their way through the Middlesex League, and scored 113 points (more than the next two teams combined) to win the MIAA Division 1 Championship. LHS's girls now are now in the rarefied err of holding each of the Division 1 cross country, indoor, and outdoor track & field titles at once. Meanwhile, The Minutemen had to piece it together throughout the year on the boys' side of things. They overcame injuries and illness that decimated their roster, came up big in key moments, and scrapped and clawed their way to seventh consecutive season with a top-three finish at Divisionals. By the numbers, LHS's boys and girls combined to break 22 school records, including 2 state records, earned 4 All-American honors, and for the first time in school history had multiple athletes earn individual All-American honors. In recent years it has felt like every season, and every team, is the greatest on in LHS history. While it is becoming increasingly harder to put into words the accomplishments of the student-athletes that make up this program, it is safe to say that we are living in the golden era of Lexington High School track & field. And what a ride it continues to be.
Up Next
The Minutemen will open the season as tradition dictates at the 58th Annual R.I. Knights of Columbus Relays in Providence, Rhode Island. The meet - at Conley Stadium - begins at 9am.
New Balance Indoor Nationals Day 4
March 15, 2025
the TRACK at New Balance - Boston, MA
RESULTS
BOSTON, MA - On Sunday, The Minutemen returned to the TRACK at New Balance to cap off the 2025-2026 Indoor track & field season. As is tradition at New Balance Nationals, the final day of competition began with the shuttle hurdles. Over the last six years, Lexington High School has built one of the premier hurdle squads in Massachusetts under Coach Ashleigh Marks. LHS's boys have been particularly deep, as they have qualified for the shuttle hurdles at New Balance Nationals both indoors and outdoors in each of the last three years. Despite ups and downs in the event over the years, the circumstances surrounding the 2026 hurdle squad's performance at Nationals were unlike anything the team has seen before.
Back in January the relay of senior captain Simon Tandeih, sophomore Nicholas Perroud, senior captain Aidan Raney, and senior Panos Kokkinias shattered the LHS record in the 50y shuttle hurdles, which earned them their spot at Nationals. Unfortunately, in the weeks leading up to Nationals, Kokkinias, the second fastest hurdler on the relay, went down with a hamstring injury. That meant The Minutemen had to call on sophomore Yash Sankholkar, who's PR is nearly a full second slower than that of Kokkinias, to step in as the team competed in the 55m shuttle hurdles on Sunday. With the "next man up" mentality, the hurdle squad loaded into the blocks in the sixth of seven sections. Tandeih got the team out well, and sent Raney back down the straightaway just behind the team from IMG Academy (FL). Raney struggled over the early hurdles, and neither Perroud or Sankholkar were able to get the team back in the mix, as their time of 32.35 seconds left them in 15th place. However, as soon as the race ended, Raney ran over to the LHS's coaches to point out that ahead of his leg, another athlete knocked one of the hurdles in his lane off its mark. Video evidence, which, unlike at MIAA meets, is allowed to be utilized at Nationals, proved Raney was correct. After the team successfully filed a protest, they were afforded a solo re-run of the race just 13 minutes after they finished their initial race. And so, the team reloaded, and took one final shot. Tandeih got the team out extremely well, and then Raney, Perroud, and Sankholkar each delivered much stronger legs on the re-run. In the end, Sankholkar crossed the line, and stopped the clock at 31.22 seconds, which landed them in seventh place, just one-hundredth-of-a-second ahead of their fellow Bay Staters from Lowell.
While the team beat all expectations, and even broke the LHS record set last winter at this meet, there was a level of disappointment that they just missed out on a top-six finish that would have earned them All-American honors. However, that disappointment soon switched to euphoria when the results were finally marked official. It turned out that the team from Notre Dame (NJ), who placed fourth, was disqualified for an exchange zone violation. Miraculously, that meant the Minutemen earned LHS's fourth All-American honors of the weekend!
Other Highlights from the Meet
- The Lex girls' shuttle hurdle squad of freshman Abbey Kohut, junior Emily Hoefkens, sophomore Cynthia Gu, and senior Monjola Finnih shattered the LHS record set back in 2024 by a relay that included Hoefkens, along with three members of the class of '24 (Katie Atkins, Jada Solomon, and Amandine Mangon); the team finished 11th overall with a time of 35.67 seconds.
- Senior captain Ainsley Cuthbertson finished 14th in the girls shot put with a throw of 12.39m (40'7.75").
- In the girls mile, sophomore Amelia Whorton ran a season best of 4:58.52, and finished 70th.
The 2025-2026 Indoor track & field season is now officially in the history books. It was a tale of two seasons for LHS this year. The Lex girls boasted 8 individual athletes who qualified for Nationals this winter, each of whom laid the foundation for what is likely the greatest track & field team in the sport's long and storied history in Massachusetts. They steamrolled their way through the Middlesex League, and scored 113 points (more than the next two teams combined) to win the MIAA Division 1 Championship. LHS's girls now are now in the rarefied err of holding each of the Division 1 cross country, indoor, and outdoor track & field titles at once. Meanwhile, The Minutemen had to piece it together throughout the year on the boys' side of things. They overcame injuries and illness that decimated their roster, came up big in key moments, and scrapped and clawed their way to seventh consecutive season with a top-three finish at Divisionals. By the numbers, LHS's boys and girls combined to break 22 school records, including 2 state records, earned 4 All-American honors, and for the first time in school history had multiple athletes earn individual All-American honors. In recent years it has felt like every season, and every team, is the greatest on in LHS history. While it is becoming increasingly harder to put into words the accomplishments of the student-athletes that make up this program, it is safe to say that we are living in the golden era of Lexington High School track & field. And what a ride it continues to be.
Up Next
The Minutemen will open the season as tradition dictates at the 58th Annual R.I. Knights of Columbus Relays in Providence, Rhode Island. The meet - at Conley Stadium - begins at 9am.