RECORDS FALL AS BOYS FINISH RUNNERS-UP AT DIVISION 1 RELAYS; LEX GIRLS PLACE 5TH
Meet Information
MSTCA Division 1 Relays
April 27 & 29, 2023
Braintree High School - Braintree, MA
RESULTS
BRAINTREE, MA - The Minutemen had their first test against the teams they will see at Divisionals this Spring as they competed in the MSTCA Division 1 Relays. A test of depth, and a preview in many ways of the MIAA Division 1 Championships, the Relay Meet features 15 events in which all are competed in a relay format with team titles on the line. On the Boys' side Lexington's depth has been on showcase all year long, and it showed through as they finished runners-up to Saint John's Prep (87 points) with 68 points of their own in the team competition. While incredibly young, the Lex Girls have consistently proved throughout the Indoor and Outdoor Seasons that they are gritty and always capable of outperforming expectations. They did just that at Relays, finishing fifth overall with 41 points. The Girls from Newton North took home the first place trophy with 63.5 points.
Highlights from Thursday's Pole Vault Relay Competition
Things got off to a great start for both the Boys and Girls on Thursday, as they competed in Day 1 of Relays at Andover High School. This Spring LHS's Athletic Director Naomi Martin ordered the purchase of a brand new pole vault facility. That along with the addition of new coach Nick Parsons has quickly developed a pole vault program at LHS that has given the team a dynamic it has never in the past. And the new vaulters were on display for the state to see on Thursday. For the Boys it was freshman Aidan Raney who led the way by clearing 9'0.25". Senior Kaden "The Sundance Kid" Cassidy managed to clear 8'0.50", while fellow classmate Naresh Vytheswaran cleared the bar at 7'6.50" for a combined height of 24'7.25". That height, in addition to earning the bronze medal, established the new LHS Record in the event. While this is the first time the Lex Girls competed in the pole vault relay, junior captain Katie Atkins - the LHS Record Holder - is in her second full year of the event, and currently ranks MA #2. Atkins was on her game Thursday, and was the only athlete in the field to clear the bar at 10'5.25". That along with first time jumpers, freshmen Lyla Kuhn (7'5.75") and Bruguers Sagues (6'6"), led The Minutemen to earn a tie for the silver medal with a combined height of 24'5". Their mark also established a new LHS Record.
Highlights from Saturday's Competition
Something must have been in the water in Braintree, because after Thursday's record day, the Boys were able to turn in three more LHS Records on Saturday. As they have been all year, the Bomb Squad led the way for The Minutemen. After an extremely disappointing performance at the Indoor Relays, in which the Shot Put team of Cassidy, senior Allen Jiang, and "The Captain" Jack Ngo fouled out of the competition, the trio - who went on to sweep the podium at the Division 1 Championships - were looking to avenge their mistake. They did that emphatically, and shattered their own LHS Record with a combined distance of 148'3.25" to win the event. In the interest of scoring as many points for their team as possible, "The Big Three" were split up for the Discus Relay. Jiang and Ngo were joined by sophomore Raphael LeDonne on the A-Team. While Cassidy teammed up with juniors "Downtown" Elijah Brown and Christian Arrington to form the B-Team. To everyone's surprise, the B-Team outperformed the A-Team, with Cassidy and Arrington turning in big PRs of 144'10.25" and 111'5.50" respectively. Along with Brown's 116'0.50", the crew broke The Big Three's LHS Record from last year with a new mark of 372'4". For their efforts, the A-Team placed third with a total distance of 347'4". The two teams placed second and third to earn The Minutemen 14 total points. Not to be outdone, the "Burger Squad" is the best hurdle crew in the Bay State, and they showed it again on Saturday. The quartet of senior captains Michael Gerfen and Jayden Bai combined with freshman Simon Tandeih and Vytheswaran simply dominated their competition, and ran a new season best and LHS Record of 1:02.42 to win the event. The final record on the day came from the 4x200m Relay of seniors Jake Wheaton, Branndon Uda-Thach, Alexios Kontothanassis, and junior Khai Uda-Thach. After running the second fastest time in state history Indoors, The Minutemen shattered the LHS Outdoor Record that has stood for a decade by over a second, as they crossed the line with a time of 1:29.05.
The Lex Girls were led by the efforts of their 4x1600m Relay. Senior Uma Sanker (5:29.1), junior Samara McVey (5:29.5), senior Jasmine Sun (5:38.7), and senior captain Ava Criniti (5:06.6) combined to earn the silver medal with a time of 21:43.75 officially. That time is the fastest run in recent memory by an LHS Girls squad. While the distance girls got things off to a strong start, LHS's young sprint squad proved that they are ready for primetime. Juniors Noa Helmbrecht and Amandine Mangon got things off to a strong start in the 4x200m Relay, before getting the baton to Laya Barguthi. The sophomore ran a tremendous third leg to get her team back into medal contention as freshman Felice Haverly loomed on the anchor leg. While Needham's and Newton North's Teams were well ahead, Haverly was able storm past the likes of Brookline, Acton-Boxborough and Andover en route to a bronze medal finish with a time of 1:48.82. LHS's Bomb Squad got the job done for the Girls Team as well, as the Shot Put Relay of freshman Ainsley Cuthbertson (29'6.75"), and juniors Quin Tandeih (29'4.25") and Cleo McBride (27'10.25") combined to place fourth overall. Tandeih (98'8.25") and Cuthbertson (85'9.25") were back in the Discus Relay with freshman Ella Wolosoff, who turned in a best throw of 67'10.25" to pickup another fourth place finish for their team.
Point scorers for the Boys
Point scorers for the Girls
Up Next
After a scheduling change, The Minutemen will next travel to Wakefield Memorial High School where they will face off against the Red and Black of Winchester. The meet is scheduled to begin at 4pm on Thursday, May 4th.
MSTCA Division 1 Relays
April 27 & 29, 2023
Braintree High School - Braintree, MA
RESULTS
BRAINTREE, MA - The Minutemen had their first test against the teams they will see at Divisionals this Spring as they competed in the MSTCA Division 1 Relays. A test of depth, and a preview in many ways of the MIAA Division 1 Championships, the Relay Meet features 15 events in which all are competed in a relay format with team titles on the line. On the Boys' side Lexington's depth has been on showcase all year long, and it showed through as they finished runners-up to Saint John's Prep (87 points) with 68 points of their own in the team competition. While incredibly young, the Lex Girls have consistently proved throughout the Indoor and Outdoor Seasons that they are gritty and always capable of outperforming expectations. They did just that at Relays, finishing fifth overall with 41 points. The Girls from Newton North took home the first place trophy with 63.5 points.
Highlights from Thursday's Pole Vault Relay Competition
Things got off to a great start for both the Boys and Girls on Thursday, as they competed in Day 1 of Relays at Andover High School. This Spring LHS's Athletic Director Naomi Martin ordered the purchase of a brand new pole vault facility. That along with the addition of new coach Nick Parsons has quickly developed a pole vault program at LHS that has given the team a dynamic it has never in the past. And the new vaulters were on display for the state to see on Thursday. For the Boys it was freshman Aidan Raney who led the way by clearing 9'0.25". Senior Kaden "The Sundance Kid" Cassidy managed to clear 8'0.50", while fellow classmate Naresh Vytheswaran cleared the bar at 7'6.50" for a combined height of 24'7.25". That height, in addition to earning the bronze medal, established the new LHS Record in the event. While this is the first time the Lex Girls competed in the pole vault relay, junior captain Katie Atkins - the LHS Record Holder - is in her second full year of the event, and currently ranks MA #2. Atkins was on her game Thursday, and was the only athlete in the field to clear the bar at 10'5.25". That along with first time jumpers, freshmen Lyla Kuhn (7'5.75") and Bruguers Sagues (6'6"), led The Minutemen to earn a tie for the silver medal with a combined height of 24'5". Their mark also established a new LHS Record.
Highlights from Saturday's Competition
Something must have been in the water in Braintree, because after Thursday's record day, the Boys were able to turn in three more LHS Records on Saturday. As they have been all year, the Bomb Squad led the way for The Minutemen. After an extremely disappointing performance at the Indoor Relays, in which the Shot Put team of Cassidy, senior Allen Jiang, and "The Captain" Jack Ngo fouled out of the competition, the trio - who went on to sweep the podium at the Division 1 Championships - were looking to avenge their mistake. They did that emphatically, and shattered their own LHS Record with a combined distance of 148'3.25" to win the event. In the interest of scoring as many points for their team as possible, "The Big Three" were split up for the Discus Relay. Jiang and Ngo were joined by sophomore Raphael LeDonne on the A-Team. While Cassidy teammed up with juniors "Downtown" Elijah Brown and Christian Arrington to form the B-Team. To everyone's surprise, the B-Team outperformed the A-Team, with Cassidy and Arrington turning in big PRs of 144'10.25" and 111'5.50" respectively. Along with Brown's 116'0.50", the crew broke The Big Three's LHS Record from last year with a new mark of 372'4". For their efforts, the A-Team placed third with a total distance of 347'4". The two teams placed second and third to earn The Minutemen 14 total points. Not to be outdone, the "Burger Squad" is the best hurdle crew in the Bay State, and they showed it again on Saturday. The quartet of senior captains Michael Gerfen and Jayden Bai combined with freshman Simon Tandeih and Vytheswaran simply dominated their competition, and ran a new season best and LHS Record of 1:02.42 to win the event. The final record on the day came from the 4x200m Relay of seniors Jake Wheaton, Branndon Uda-Thach, Alexios Kontothanassis, and junior Khai Uda-Thach. After running the second fastest time in state history Indoors, The Minutemen shattered the LHS Outdoor Record that has stood for a decade by over a second, as they crossed the line with a time of 1:29.05.
The Lex Girls were led by the efforts of their 4x1600m Relay. Senior Uma Sanker (5:29.1), junior Samara McVey (5:29.5), senior Jasmine Sun (5:38.7), and senior captain Ava Criniti (5:06.6) combined to earn the silver medal with a time of 21:43.75 officially. That time is the fastest run in recent memory by an LHS Girls squad. While the distance girls got things off to a strong start, LHS's young sprint squad proved that they are ready for primetime. Juniors Noa Helmbrecht and Amandine Mangon got things off to a strong start in the 4x200m Relay, before getting the baton to Laya Barguthi. The sophomore ran a tremendous third leg to get her team back into medal contention as freshman Felice Haverly loomed on the anchor leg. While Needham's and Newton North's Teams were well ahead, Haverly was able storm past the likes of Brookline, Acton-Boxborough and Andover en route to a bronze medal finish with a time of 1:48.82. LHS's Bomb Squad got the job done for the Girls Team as well, as the Shot Put Relay of freshman Ainsley Cuthbertson (29'6.75"), and juniors Quin Tandeih (29'4.25") and Cleo McBride (27'10.25") combined to place fourth overall. Tandeih (98'8.25") and Cuthbertson (85'9.25") were back in the Discus Relay with freshman Ella Wolosoff, who turned in a best throw of 67'10.25" to pickup another fourth place finish for their team.
Point scorers for the Boys
- The 4x400m Relay of Bai, sophomore Max Zhang, junior McKenna O'Hare Gibson, and Branndon Uda-Thach achieved the Nike Outdoor Nationals standard with a time of 3:28.75, as they placed third overall.
- In the 4x100m Relay Kontothanassis, Branndon Uda-Thach, Wheaton, and freshman Amari Mow earned bronze with a time of 43.58 seconds.
- Kontothanassis (40'8.75"), junior Jacob Pan (39'4.50"), and senior Jerry Gong (38'4.25") placed fourth in the Triple Jump Relay.
- The High Jump Relay saw O'Hare Gibson leap over a season best 5'10" to qualify for the Middlesex League Championships; Bai and Tandeih both cleared 5'7" for the first time this season, as the team placed fifth overall.
- Junior Joey "Candy Man" Ryan led the Boys 4x800m of senior Aviv Spitz (2:05.0), and sophomores Zach Barry (2:05.0) and Nathan Cunningham (2:05.6) to a sixth place finish with his 2:02.5 split; the group ran a season best time of 8:18.21.
- In the 1600m Sprint Medley Relay, Zhang's 2:00.5 split on the 800m leg led freshman Andrew Gu, senior Miguel Jaramillo, and Khai Uda-Thach to a sixth place finish with a time of 3:41.11.
Point scorers for the Girls
- Atkins (88'10") led the way for the Javelin Relay to place fourth; senior Rose O'Neill's PR of 82'2", and senior captain Annie Smith 73'7" added up to a combined distance of 244'8.50".
- McVey, Sanker, and Criniti doubled back for the Distance Medley Relay along with junior Adia Singh who turned in a 61.6 second 400m split as they group placed fourth with a time of 12:42.65.
- In the 4x200m Relay junior captain Jada Solomon, Haverly, Helmbrecht, and Deardorf blasted their way to a season best and Division 1 Championships qualifying time of 51.32 seconds to place fifth.
- Freshman Aubrey Deardorf (16'3.25"), Barguthi (16'0.25"), and sophomore Alkisti Kokkinia (15'5.50") all PRed en route to a sixth place finish in the Long Jump Relay.
- The 4x800m Relay of sophomore Claire Cunningham (2:37.6), and the freshman trio of Sophie Johnson (2:40.9), Nadia Abdinoor (2:37.8), and Meghan Caldera (2:33.3) also picked up a sixth place finish for their team.
Up Next
After a scheduling change, The Minutemen will next travel to Wakefield Memorial High School where they will face off against the Red and Black of Winchester. The meet is scheduled to begin at 4pm on Thursday, May 4th.