GIRLS COME FROM NOWHERE TO WIN FIRST D1 RELAYS TITLE IN OVER 10 YEARS
Meet Information
MSTCA Division 1 Relays
May 29, 2021
Peabody Veterans Memorial High School - Peabody, MA
RESULTS
PEABODY, MA - It had been 15 months to the day since The Minutemen's 4x800m relay crossed the finish line to win the event at the 2020 New England Championships. Since that day Lexington High School has not attended a single track meet outside of virtual or in-person dual meets in Middlesex League competition. That streak finally came to an end on Saturday as LHS traveled to Peabody for the Division 1 Relays. While temperatures at their meet just two days prior were in the 80s, The Minutemen were greeted by temps in the mid 40s with on-again off-again driving wind a rain. Bitter would be the adjective to describe conditions at Peabody's track. Despite the miserable conditions, both the boys and girls teams were anxious to get back to big time competition after such a long layoff. Perhaps even more so were the girls as they had to sit and watch the morning session in which the boys competed before they got their turn on the track. However, once they got out there they put on quite a show.
Starting off the meet was the 4x1600m Relay of senior Lauren Sterne, sophomore Uma Sanker, junior Clara Fu, and sophomore Mirra Payson. Sterne got things off to a hot start with a 5:39 split to give The Minutemen the lead. Sanker then took over and carried the baton for four laps in 5:47 before handing off to Fu. The junior harrier cruised back into the lead and handed off to Payson after having split 5:41. Payson, who came in with a season best 5:36 mile under her belt, went out in a brisk 76 seconds for the first quarter, which opened up a sizeable lead over second place Weymouth. She then settled in over the next 800m before unleashing a blistering 72 second final lap to take the race in a total time of 22:29.64. Her split of 5:21 in the 1600m equates to a lifetime best in the Mile. Going into the final event of the day - the 4x400m Relay - the LHS coaching staff and athletes were unaware of the fact that they were in second place in the team scoring with 36 points to Newton North's 38 points. With both teams in the seeded section of the event, that meant that the winner of the race would take home the team title. Running in her first ever 400, junior captain Mari McBride - who had already led the High Jump and Long Jump relays to second and fifth place finishes respectively - took off with a 61.4 opening split. A nearly botched handoff with her teammate, senior Catherine Movsessian, was the only blemish on an otherwise stellar relay effort. Despite the mishap, Movsessian still carried the baton to a 62.3 split. Senior captain Aylin Bruce ran the next quarter mile in 62.0 seconds to give The Minutemen a big lead going into the anchor leg where fellow captain Aleia Gisolfi-McCready was looming. The senior took the baton and blasted around the track, extending the lead and taking the tape with a split of 58.1 seconds. LHS's time of 4:03.95 won the race by seven seconds, and was the fastest time run by the team since 2016. With the victory, and Newton North's fourth place finish in the event, The Minutemen took the team title for the first time in over 10 years.
In a post-meet interview, when asked about the girls' effort at the meet, Coach Trachsel said, “They’ve worked so hard at practice, individually and with each other... Every single day they bring it and give a full effort. We had a long stretch of days of training which is great for the coaches but sometimes really hard for the athletes. When push came to shove and they got on the line they were totally ready.”
While the boys teams' successes did not quite rise to the level of the girls, they showed very well without a number of key pieces on Saturday by finishing fifth overall. The highlight of the boys meet came from the 4x800m Relay squad of junior captain Evan Eberle, senior captain Reed Solomon, junior Traver Smith III, and freshman Nayan Das. Going into the meet seeded third, The Minutemen were anxious to see how their first 4x800 race of the season would shake out against some top talent from eastern Massachusetts. Eberle got things off to a hot start with a 1:57.9 opening leg, which gave LHS a sizeable lead. Solomon would take the baton twice around the track in 2:03.9 before handing off to Smith III. The junior battled through the elements to a 2:05.7 split before the youngest member of the relay, Das, would bring home the victory with a split of 2:06.7. The Minutemen's final time of 8:14.97 won the event by six seconds, and gave them the Divisional Championships qualifying time.
Other Highlights for the Girls
Other Highlights for the Boys
Up Next
A select group of athletes will head to Gordon College on Saturday for the MSTCA Lou Tozzi Invitational. The meet is set to begin at 9:30am.
The full team will be back in action the following Monday for one of the most anticipated Middlesex League meets in recent memory as The Minutemen will compete in a tri-meet against rivals Reading and Woburn. Both the boys and girls Liberty Division titles will be on the line, and for the boys a shot at redemption as the Rockets defeated LHS Indoors. The meet - at Woburn High School - is scheduled to begin at 4:15pm.
MSTCA Division 1 Relays
May 29, 2021
Peabody Veterans Memorial High School - Peabody, MA
RESULTS
PEABODY, MA - It had been 15 months to the day since The Minutemen's 4x800m relay crossed the finish line to win the event at the 2020 New England Championships. Since that day Lexington High School has not attended a single track meet outside of virtual or in-person dual meets in Middlesex League competition. That streak finally came to an end on Saturday as LHS traveled to Peabody for the Division 1 Relays. While temperatures at their meet just two days prior were in the 80s, The Minutemen were greeted by temps in the mid 40s with on-again off-again driving wind a rain. Bitter would be the adjective to describe conditions at Peabody's track. Despite the miserable conditions, both the boys and girls teams were anxious to get back to big time competition after such a long layoff. Perhaps even more so were the girls as they had to sit and watch the morning session in which the boys competed before they got their turn on the track. However, once they got out there they put on quite a show.
Starting off the meet was the 4x1600m Relay of senior Lauren Sterne, sophomore Uma Sanker, junior Clara Fu, and sophomore Mirra Payson. Sterne got things off to a hot start with a 5:39 split to give The Minutemen the lead. Sanker then took over and carried the baton for four laps in 5:47 before handing off to Fu. The junior harrier cruised back into the lead and handed off to Payson after having split 5:41. Payson, who came in with a season best 5:36 mile under her belt, went out in a brisk 76 seconds for the first quarter, which opened up a sizeable lead over second place Weymouth. She then settled in over the next 800m before unleashing a blistering 72 second final lap to take the race in a total time of 22:29.64. Her split of 5:21 in the 1600m equates to a lifetime best in the Mile. Going into the final event of the day - the 4x400m Relay - the LHS coaching staff and athletes were unaware of the fact that they were in second place in the team scoring with 36 points to Newton North's 38 points. With both teams in the seeded section of the event, that meant that the winner of the race would take home the team title. Running in her first ever 400, junior captain Mari McBride - who had already led the High Jump and Long Jump relays to second and fifth place finishes respectively - took off with a 61.4 opening split. A nearly botched handoff with her teammate, senior Catherine Movsessian, was the only blemish on an otherwise stellar relay effort. Despite the mishap, Movsessian still carried the baton to a 62.3 split. Senior captain Aylin Bruce ran the next quarter mile in 62.0 seconds to give The Minutemen a big lead going into the anchor leg where fellow captain Aleia Gisolfi-McCready was looming. The senior took the baton and blasted around the track, extending the lead and taking the tape with a split of 58.1 seconds. LHS's time of 4:03.95 won the race by seven seconds, and was the fastest time run by the team since 2016. With the victory, and Newton North's fourth place finish in the event, The Minutemen took the team title for the first time in over 10 years.
In a post-meet interview, when asked about the girls' effort at the meet, Coach Trachsel said, “They’ve worked so hard at practice, individually and with each other... Every single day they bring it and give a full effort. We had a long stretch of days of training which is great for the coaches but sometimes really hard for the athletes. When push came to shove and they got on the line they were totally ready.”
While the boys teams' successes did not quite rise to the level of the girls, they showed very well without a number of key pieces on Saturday by finishing fifth overall. The highlight of the boys meet came from the 4x800m Relay squad of junior captain Evan Eberle, senior captain Reed Solomon, junior Traver Smith III, and freshman Nayan Das. Going into the meet seeded third, The Minutemen were anxious to see how their first 4x800 race of the season would shake out against some top talent from eastern Massachusetts. Eberle got things off to a hot start with a 1:57.9 opening leg, which gave LHS a sizeable lead. Solomon would take the baton twice around the track in 2:03.9 before handing off to Smith III. The junior battled through the elements to a 2:05.7 split before the youngest member of the relay, Das, would bring home the victory with a split of 2:06.7. The Minutemen's final time of 8:14.97 won the event by six seconds, and gave them the Divisional Championships qualifying time.
Other Highlights for the Girls
- In the High Jump Relay junior captain Mari McBride and sophomore Maddie Parks both cleared 4'11.75" to lead the team to a second place finish; junior Anna Yang cleared 4'4".
- LHS's "Bomb Squad" came out strong in the Discus Relay as junior Raquel Batista-Vieira (84'4"), freshman Quin Tandeih (75'9"), and senior captain Lina Jaafar (69'8") placed second.
- The Javelin Relay of sophomore Karin Minemoto (88'4"), freshman Katie Atkins (73'10), and sophomore Rose O'Neil (66'8") placed third overall.
- The Long Jump Relay of McBride (15'7.75"), Haley Creighton (15'3.50"), and Yang (14'3.75") place fifth.
- Tandeih (26'6.50"), Batista-Vieira (25'10.75"), and freshman Cleo McBride (23'3.25") combined to place sixth in the event.
- The 100m Shuttle Hurdles team of Atkins, junior Elena Sabin, freshman Audrey Creighton, and junior Anna Yang placed sixth in 1:11.60.
- In the Sprint Medley Relay the team of Parks, senior Sujin Lee, Sabin, and sophomore Serena Caira finished ninth in 4:43.42.
Other Highlights for the Boys
- The sprinting duo of junior Josh Lee and sophomore Brandon Uda-Thach, combined with Solomon and Eberle to run a season best 3:35.92 to place third.
- In the Shot Put Relay, sophomores Jack Ngo (42'2") and Matt Jacob (39'3.75"), and senior captain Jarret Dlugy (38'2.25") placed third.
- Dlugy (132'11"), Ngo (114'11), and junior Declan Clark (92'5") combined to place third in the Discus Relay.
- Running from the unseeded heat the 4x200m Relay of sophomore Miguel Jaramillo, senior captain Ryan Atkins, sophomore Nick Xanthopoulos, and senior captain Alex Murphy ran 1:36.60 to place fifth overall.
- The Distance Medley Relay of senior Nate Croke, sophomore Aviv Spitz, junior Hiroki Heginbotham, and junior Ollie DiCerbo placed fifth with a time of 11:15.59.
- The 4x100m Relay of Jaramillo, Atkins, Lee, and Murphy finish ninth in 45.89 seconds.
Up Next
A select group of athletes will head to Gordon College on Saturday for the MSTCA Lou Tozzi Invitational. The meet is set to begin at 9:30am.
The full team will be back in action the following Monday for one of the most anticipated Middlesex League meets in recent memory as The Minutemen will compete in a tri-meet against rivals Reading and Woburn. Both the boys and girls Liberty Division titles will be on the line, and for the boys a shot at redemption as the Rockets defeated LHS Indoors. The meet - at Woburn High School - is scheduled to begin at 4:15pm.