A RECORD SETTING DAY FOR THE MINUTEMEN AT DIVISION 1 RELAYS
Meet Information
MSTCA Division 1 Relays
April 25 & 28, 2023
Franklin High School - Franklin, MA
RESULTS
FRANKLIN, MA - It was a day of highs and lows for The Minutemen at this year's Division 1 Relays. On the bright side, LHS took down three different school records that had stood for a combined 47 years, had some stellar performances in the Boys distance relays, and some equally impressive marks in the Girls sprint relays. Unfortunately, despite the strong performances, The Minutemen were not able to fair as well as they hoped in the team scoring. Lexington finished tied for 13th on the boys' side with 14 points. St. John's Prep won the meet for the fourth year in a row with 62 points. The Lex Girls managed a bit better finish, tenth overall with 23 points, behind Newton North's winning score of 53 points.
LHS's Bomb Squad was the lead story on the day for the Lex Girls. The Shot Put Relay of sophomore Ainsley Cuthbertson, and seniors "Downtown" Makayla Brown and Quin Tandeih came to Franklin to chase a record that stood since 2018. Over the last five years, a number of Shot Put relays have come in with better PRs, but none have been able to all put it together on the day that mattered. Sunday, that all changed. While none of the three girls managed a personal best, all did their part to combine to throw 90'6.25", which broke the previous mark by over a half foot. However, that was just the start of the day for Cuthbertson and Tandeih. Later in the meet the duo was joined by sophomore Ella Wolosoff in the Discus Relay. The event's LHS record, set in 1998, has eluded the Bomb Squad since Coach James Hall took over the throwing program in 2017. Once again, that fact changed down in Franklin. Tandeih came through with a big season best of 93'10", Cuthbertson (99'1") and Wolosoff (84'3") both had solid throws, and with that the record that stood since six years before any of the trio was born was shattered by 16 feet! The performances by Cuthbertson, Tandeih, Brown, and Wolosoff marked the 14th and 15th LHS records set by the Bomb Squad since 2017. That out of a the total of 20 individual and relay throwing events that are contested in Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field. In a place once seen as "Two Mile Town," it is safe to say that Lexington's throwing program is now in its golden era. Along with the big day in the throws, not enough can be said about the quartet of senior captain Jada Solomon, and sophomores Bruguers Sagues, Aubrey Deardorf, and Felice Haverly. They started off with a sizzling run in the 4x1. The team had clean handoffs all the way around the track, and ran a new season best of 50.49 seconds to earn second in the event. In the 4x200m, they were back again, and even better. Their time of 1:45.93 was #2 all-time in LHS history, and landed them in third place overall in what was an epic day for the girls' sprint squad.
The Outdoor Long Jump Relay record has stood since 2009 at 61'0". Sunday, the trio of sophomore captain Simon Tandeih, fellow classmate Amari Mow, and senior Jacob Pan wasted no time as they took it down, seemingly with ease. On their first attempts, Tandeih and Mow both eclipsed the 21-foot barrier, with Mow's leap of 21'2" being a season best. Pan fouled his first attempt, but managed to get in a jump of 19'9.50" on his second, which was his best on the afternoon. With that, the trio smashed the record, but Tandeih (21'2.50") decided to add an extra two inches to it with his final jump in competition. All totaled, their new LHS record now stands at 62'1.75". Before things heated up on the runway, the 4x1600m Relay of junior Zach Barry, freshmen Patrick Noonan and Alden Hall, and senior captain Joey "The Candyman" Ryan turned in a gutsy performance to open the meet. Barry started things off with a perfectly paced opening leg, and handed off within striking distance of the leaders after a 4:34.6 split. LHS's freshman phenom surged to the head of the pack over the first two laps, but had to battle to hold on to the top group in the final 800. He handed off after a 4:29.5 split, which had The Minutemen in fourth as they went on to the third leg. There, Hall ran a hard opening lap of 66-seconds. The young harrier was definitely feeling the affects of that first lap in the latter stages of his leg, but he never gave in at any point, and battled to a 4:37.0 split that gave the Candyman a chance when he stepped on the track. Ryan quickly got up to second place with an opening 800m split of 2:13, but then poured it on over the final two laps as he tried to chase down Brookline's Theo Butty. In the end Brookline was too far gone, but Ryan's hard charging final two laps led him to split 4:22.2, and earn the team a second place medal with a time of 18:02.99. Noonan, Barry, and Ryan were back later in the meet, along with junior captain Kabir Gokarn, for the Distance Medley Relay. Noonan once again put the team in position with a 3:16.6 split for 1200m. Gokarn ran a personal best of 54.1 seconds in the 400m leg, before Barry got the team in position with a 2:03.5 800m split. Once again, the Candyman was tasked with racing a 1600m leg, and chasing down some of the best distance runners in the Bay State. He did just that as he used a 62.4 final quarter to run 4:18.3, which brought The Minutemen all the way up to fourth in a time of 10:32.41. LHS's 4x1600m and DMR were both #2 all-time in school history, and the first time any relays even approached the legendary marks set in 2005 by teams that were anchored by Paul Morris (LHS '05), Archie Abrams (LHS '05), and Willi Ballenthin (LHS '06).
Other Highlights for the Girls
Final Girls Team Scores (Top 10)
1. Newton North - 53
2. Central Catholic - 46
3. Franklin - 42
3. Weymouth - 42
5. Acton-Boxborough - 38
6. Andover - 36
7. Lowell - 33
8. Framingham - 28
9. Westford Academy - 26
10. Lexington - 23
Other Highlights for the Boys
Final Boys Team Scores (Top 10)
1. Saint John's Prep - 63
2. Newton North - 44
3. Acton-Boxborough - 36
3. Xaverian Brothers - 36
5. Brookline - 28
6. Lowell - 26
7. Natick - 22
8. Andover - 20
8. Attleboro - 20
8. Central Catholic - 20
13. Lexington - 14
Up Next
The Minutemen are right back to work on Wednesday, May 1st as they return home to race rival Reading. The meet against the Rockets will get underway at the Lexington Center Track at 4pm.
MSTCA Division 1 Relays
April 25 & 28, 2023
Franklin High School - Franklin, MA
RESULTS
FRANKLIN, MA - It was a day of highs and lows for The Minutemen at this year's Division 1 Relays. On the bright side, LHS took down three different school records that had stood for a combined 47 years, had some stellar performances in the Boys distance relays, and some equally impressive marks in the Girls sprint relays. Unfortunately, despite the strong performances, The Minutemen were not able to fair as well as they hoped in the team scoring. Lexington finished tied for 13th on the boys' side with 14 points. St. John's Prep won the meet for the fourth year in a row with 62 points. The Lex Girls managed a bit better finish, tenth overall with 23 points, behind Newton North's winning score of 53 points.
LHS's Bomb Squad was the lead story on the day for the Lex Girls. The Shot Put Relay of sophomore Ainsley Cuthbertson, and seniors "Downtown" Makayla Brown and Quin Tandeih came to Franklin to chase a record that stood since 2018. Over the last five years, a number of Shot Put relays have come in with better PRs, but none have been able to all put it together on the day that mattered. Sunday, that all changed. While none of the three girls managed a personal best, all did their part to combine to throw 90'6.25", which broke the previous mark by over a half foot. However, that was just the start of the day for Cuthbertson and Tandeih. Later in the meet the duo was joined by sophomore Ella Wolosoff in the Discus Relay. The event's LHS record, set in 1998, has eluded the Bomb Squad since Coach James Hall took over the throwing program in 2017. Once again, that fact changed down in Franklin. Tandeih came through with a big season best of 93'10", Cuthbertson (99'1") and Wolosoff (84'3") both had solid throws, and with that the record that stood since six years before any of the trio was born was shattered by 16 feet! The performances by Cuthbertson, Tandeih, Brown, and Wolosoff marked the 14th and 15th LHS records set by the Bomb Squad since 2017. That out of a the total of 20 individual and relay throwing events that are contested in Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field. In a place once seen as "Two Mile Town," it is safe to say that Lexington's throwing program is now in its golden era. Along with the big day in the throws, not enough can be said about the quartet of senior captain Jada Solomon, and sophomores Bruguers Sagues, Aubrey Deardorf, and Felice Haverly. They started off with a sizzling run in the 4x1. The team had clean handoffs all the way around the track, and ran a new season best of 50.49 seconds to earn second in the event. In the 4x200m, they were back again, and even better. Their time of 1:45.93 was #2 all-time in LHS history, and landed them in third place overall in what was an epic day for the girls' sprint squad.
The Outdoor Long Jump Relay record has stood since 2009 at 61'0". Sunday, the trio of sophomore captain Simon Tandeih, fellow classmate Amari Mow, and senior Jacob Pan wasted no time as they took it down, seemingly with ease. On their first attempts, Tandeih and Mow both eclipsed the 21-foot barrier, with Mow's leap of 21'2" being a season best. Pan fouled his first attempt, but managed to get in a jump of 19'9.50" on his second, which was his best on the afternoon. With that, the trio smashed the record, but Tandeih (21'2.50") decided to add an extra two inches to it with his final jump in competition. All totaled, their new LHS record now stands at 62'1.75". Before things heated up on the runway, the 4x1600m Relay of junior Zach Barry, freshmen Patrick Noonan and Alden Hall, and senior captain Joey "The Candyman" Ryan turned in a gutsy performance to open the meet. Barry started things off with a perfectly paced opening leg, and handed off within striking distance of the leaders after a 4:34.6 split. LHS's freshman phenom surged to the head of the pack over the first two laps, but had to battle to hold on to the top group in the final 800. He handed off after a 4:29.5 split, which had The Minutemen in fourth as they went on to the third leg. There, Hall ran a hard opening lap of 66-seconds. The young harrier was definitely feeling the affects of that first lap in the latter stages of his leg, but he never gave in at any point, and battled to a 4:37.0 split that gave the Candyman a chance when he stepped on the track. Ryan quickly got up to second place with an opening 800m split of 2:13, but then poured it on over the final two laps as he tried to chase down Brookline's Theo Butty. In the end Brookline was too far gone, but Ryan's hard charging final two laps led him to split 4:22.2, and earn the team a second place medal with a time of 18:02.99. Noonan, Barry, and Ryan were back later in the meet, along with junior captain Kabir Gokarn, for the Distance Medley Relay. Noonan once again put the team in position with a 3:16.6 split for 1200m. Gokarn ran a personal best of 54.1 seconds in the 400m leg, before Barry got the team in position with a 2:03.5 800m split. Once again, the Candyman was tasked with racing a 1600m leg, and chasing down some of the best distance runners in the Bay State. He did just that as he used a 62.4 final quarter to run 4:18.3, which brought The Minutemen all the way up to fourth in a time of 10:32.41. LHS's 4x1600m and DMR were both #2 all-time in school history, and the first time any relays even approached the legendary marks set in 2005 by teams that were anchored by Paul Morris (LHS '05), Archie Abrams (LHS '05), and Willi Ballenthin (LHS '06).
Other Highlights for the Girls
- The Triple Jump Relay of senior Amandine Mangon (32'9"), Sagues (32'3.75"), and junior Caitlin Lennox (30'9") placed sixth overall with a combined leap of 95'9.50".
- Freshman Alyssa McKee (15'4.75"), junior Alkisti Kokkinia (15'1.50"), and freshman Iris Yu (14'7.25") finished 16th in the Long Jump Relay.
Final Girls Team Scores (Top 10)
1. Newton North - 53
2. Central Catholic - 46
3. Franklin - 42
3. Weymouth - 42
5. Acton-Boxborough - 38
6. Andover - 36
7. Lowell - 33
8. Framingham - 28
9. Westford Academy - 26
10. Lexington - 23
Other Highlights for the Boys
- Junior captain Max Zhang anchored the Sprint Medley Relay of Tandeih, and seniors Khai Uda-Thach and McKenna O'Hare Gibson with a 1:58.8 split en route to sixth place with a time of 3:34.10.
- In the 4x800m Relay, juniors Will Fletcher and Nathan Cunningham, along with sophomore Colin Smith, and freshman Eric House ran 8:29.70 to finish 12th.
- The Discus Relay of sophomores Franz Schroeder (121'6"), Nick Roell (110'10"), and junior Colin Maguire (99'11") landed in sixth place overall.
- That same trio finished 12th in the Shot Put Relay with throws of 39'10", 39'5.25", and 39'8" respectively.
- Freshmen Aaron Yu, Shreyas Hanchinamani, Nathan Paul, and Cayden Chambers finished 22nd with a time of 1:35.56.
Final Boys Team Scores (Top 10)
1. Saint John's Prep - 63
2. Newton North - 44
3. Acton-Boxborough - 36
3. Xaverian Brothers - 36
5. Brookline - 28
6. Lowell - 26
7. Natick - 22
8. Andover - 20
8. Attleboro - 20
8. Central Catholic - 20
13. Lexington - 14
Up Next
The Minutemen are right back to work on Wednesday, May 1st as they return home to race rival Reading. The meet against the Rockets will get underway at the Lexington Center Track at 4pm.