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THE 4x4 WRITES THE FINAL CHAPTER OF A RECORD SEASON FOR THE MINUTEMEN

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Meet Information
New Balance Outdoor Nationals Day 4
June 17, 2023
Franklin Field - Philadelphia, PA


RESULTS

PHILADELPHIA, PA - Over the first three days of competition The Minutemen competed in 12 events. Those events produced 6 All-Americans, 3 school records, and 1 National Champion, along with plenty more exciting moments. Sunday, LHS's best student-athletes returned to Franklin Field one final time for the last day of the New Balance Outdoor Nationals. The saying goes that "all great track meets come down to the 4x4." And, that was certainly the case for The Minutemen.

​To set the stage for the final race of the 2023 Track & Field year, one must turn the clock back to the 2018 Massachusetts All-State Championships. On that day over five years ago the team of Andrew McGovern (LHS '20), Joshua Backert (LHS '20), Thomas Lingard (LHS '18), and Lucas Honohan (LHS '18) took down the team from Newton North to win the State Title, and set the LHS record in the 4x400m Relay at 3:20.16. Fast forward four years to last year's 4x4 squad, which ran 3:20.46 at the Meet of Champions, and followed it up a week later at New Englands with a time of 3:20.35. While the team had just missed the record, there was good reason to feel like that mark - and the elusive 3:20 barrier - would be broken this year, since only one member of that team, Josh Lee (LHS '22), was not returning this year.

Throughout the 2023, The Minutemen have had numerous opportunities to break through in the 4x4, and have mixed and matched lineups from its deep and talented sprint squad in that pursuit. Despite the talent, LHS had not been able to dip under 3:21 once this year. Sunday was the final chance. And, for seniors Branndon Uda-Thach, Alexios Kontothanassis, and Jake Wheaton it would be their last race wearing an LHS singlet. The trio, along with junior McKenna O'Hare Gibson toed the line in the fourth of nine heats and when the gun fired, Uda-Thach set the track on fire. His 48.9 split was the best he has run all year and gave LHS a commanding lead, which was held strong by Konothanassis's 50.4 split on the second leg. Wheaton then got the baton around the track in an FAT split of 50.01 before he handed off to O'Hare Gibson. The junior has proved to be a strong anchor for The Minutemen throughout Championship Season, and he proved it once again. Despite a hard charge by Croatan, NC's 
Matthew Quispe, O'Hare Gibson ran an FAT split of 50.24 and crossed the line first with a record breaking time of 3:19.74. With that, The Minutemen have broken 23 school records during the course of the 2023 Indoor and Outdoor Seasons. In the end the 4x4's time would earn LHS a 16th place finish, and put a stamp on an incredible year.

With the 2022-2023 school year now in the books for the Track & Field Team, it is important to look back at what they accomplished together. The numbers speak for themselves: 23 LHS records, 6 All-Americans, 3 Middlesex League Liberty Division Titles, 4 Middlesex League Championships, 2 League Meet scoring records, a Division 1 Championship, and a "would-be" All-State Championship. However, what made this group special was how they came together as a team. In Lexington, there is a culture that is unique among Massachusetts Track & Field programs. It is something that seems simple enough, and yet is seldom if ever practiced outside of our Team. The Boys and Girls Teams are truly one team. Student-athletes and coaches all practice, train, and work together. And, there is really no divide between the two. The picture below is from the day that the Boys Team won the Division 1 Championship. However, just by looking at the blurry photo published online the day after they won, you would assume the Boys and Girls had both been crowned champions. That is the level of togetherness that this team is all about. It is a culture that can be credited to, among other things, the efforts of our graduating Class of 2023. This Class was the last group of kids who had high school athletics taken from them during the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout their careers they have shown a level of resolve and leadership that is second to none. Practicing on their own, traveling to different places when facilities were available in town, building a community of accountability, toeing the line in the heat, the cold, the rain, and when necessary with a plastic shopping bag over their cast because their team needed them. It was truly an honor to see this group grow up through all of the twists and turns that their high school careers entailed. To put it plainly, they have redefined what it means to be a member of the Lexington High School Track & Field Team. From all of the coaches, thank you.

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Up Next
After some time off, The Minutemen will now head back to the trails for Cross Country this Fall. The Team will make its debut for the 2023-2024 year at the Clipper Relays at Maudslay State Park in Newburyport on Saturday, September 9th at 9:15am.
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