THE MINUTEMEN AND THE ROCKETS SQUARE OFF IN LEXINGTON
Meet Information
Reading Dual Meet
May 1, 2024
Lexington Center Track - Lexington, MA
RESULTS
LEXINGTON, MA - On Wednesday, The Minutemen hosted Reading at the Center Recreation Complex. After stellar weather at the Relay Meet this past weekend, New England "Spring" was back to normal as clouds hung, and temps hovered around 50 degrees throughout the meet. Despite the less than ideal conditions, The Minutemen competed well and turned in 40 personal or season bests, 32 Middlesex League Championship qualifying performances, 16 MIAA Division 1 Championship marks, and 1 Lexington High School record. In the team competition, the Lex Girls took home the victory by a score of 71-65, while the Boys fell 67-69 to the Rockets.
As a freshman, Aubrey Deardorf came out of nowhere during the 2022-2023 Indoor Track & Field Season. In fact, she had not competed in a varsity event until the final meet before Championship Season. However, her meteoric rise from February 2023 to now is a credit to the sophomore's talent, hard work, and competitive spirit. On the Long Jump runway, "Bubbles" was at her absolute best on Wednesday. She matched her PR of 17'8.50" on her second attempt, then on her final jump she exploded off the board and flew out to a distance of 18'2.50", which made her the new school record holder in the event. Ally Crooke's (LHS '10) previous LHS record set in 2009, which has stood nearly as long as Deardorf has been alive, was bested by nearly a half-foot. Along with Deardorf's big day, the team's Distance Squad was firing on all cylinders. Despite being a freshman, Alycia Charest proved that no moment is too big for her - she was called upon to race All-States as an alternate, and placed third on the team - during Cross Country. After a winter season playing hockey, she truly found her form against Reading. In her 2 Mile debut, Charest ran an even split 12:08.28 that earned her the win going away, and qualified her for the MIAA Division 1 Championships later this month. While Charest rocked it out in the 2 Mile, the trio of freshman Erin Ehmann, sophomore Thayer DiCerbo, and freshman Josie Bettencourt put on a show in the Mile. The girls came in with PRs of 5:42, 5:50, and 5:54 respectively, but on Wednesday they worked together, and competed hard for all four laps as they broke out the golden broom to sweep the event. Ehmann crossed the line first in a time of 5:34.55. She was followed by DiCerbo (5:41.98), and Bettencourt (5:45.40) as all three punched their tickets to the Middlesex League Championships. Finally, the Lex Girls came through with a solid one-two punch in the 400m. Sophomore Anika Steinbrecher turned in a PR of 1:02.96, which just edged out senior captain Jada Solomon (1:03.21) who crossed the line with a PR of her own. Those marks qualified Steinbrecher for Divisionals and Solomon for League.
The event of the day on the boys' side was undoubtedly the 800m, where senior captain Joey "The Candyman" Ryan squared off against the best in LHS's Mid-D group had to offer in juniors Max Zhang and Zach Barry. The LHS record holder for the Indoor 2 Mile, dropped down in distance, and competed in his first career open 800. Despite the inexperience, the Candyman showed no fear as he led the race from wire-to-wire. After a strong opening quarter mile of 58.57, he repeated that effort with a 58.88 second lap to cross the line in 1:57.44. That time held off the hard charge by Zhang, who finished in 1:58.79. For his efforts, Barry had a huge PR, as he broke the elusive two-minute barrier for the first time. His final time was 1:59.63, as The Minutemen completed the sweep of the event. Along with the show put on by the boys in the 800, sophomore captain Simon Tandeih is in preparation for the multi-events at the end of the season. That meant the hurdle/long jump specialist had to branch out into unfamiliar events against Reading. He began his day with a PR of 5:28.72 in the Mile, then headed right over to the Shot Put ring. There he was just off his personal best with a throw of 36'6.50". However, it was in the Discus where Tandeih was at his absolute best. Tandeih's sister Quin is the LHS record holder in the Girls Discus, so perhaps it just runs in the family, because after a modest first throw and a foul on his second, he unleashed the discus a whopping 121'4" on his final attempt. That mark ranks him #2 on LHS's depth chart, and MA #15 among sophomores in the event. And, to be clear, none of those other guys on that list can jump 21 feet in the Long Jump, or run the 110m Hurdles in 15 seconds. Not to be overlooked was the performance of senior Clifton Reid Jr in the 400m Hurdles. After a pair of solid races to open up the season, Reid Jr finally had the breakout performance he craved. He turned in a massive personal best of 1:00.75, which earned him his first trip to the Division 1 Championships of his career.
Other Highlights for the Girls
Other Highlights for the Boys
Up Next
This Saturday, May the 4th is "Track Day" for The Minutemen. 3 locations, 2 meets, 1 day. LHS's underclassmen will get the day started at the Freshmen/Sophomore Meet in Weymouth at 9:30am. A select group of athletes will then travel to Weston for the annual Twilight Meet. Middle and Long Distance events will be held at Regis College beginning at 5:30pm, while everyone else will be at Weston High School where action will get underway at 5pm, and likely go to midnight if history repeats itself.
Reading Dual Meet
May 1, 2024
Lexington Center Track - Lexington, MA
RESULTS
LEXINGTON, MA - On Wednesday, The Minutemen hosted Reading at the Center Recreation Complex. After stellar weather at the Relay Meet this past weekend, New England "Spring" was back to normal as clouds hung, and temps hovered around 50 degrees throughout the meet. Despite the less than ideal conditions, The Minutemen competed well and turned in 40 personal or season bests, 32 Middlesex League Championship qualifying performances, 16 MIAA Division 1 Championship marks, and 1 Lexington High School record. In the team competition, the Lex Girls took home the victory by a score of 71-65, while the Boys fell 67-69 to the Rockets.
As a freshman, Aubrey Deardorf came out of nowhere during the 2022-2023 Indoor Track & Field Season. In fact, she had not competed in a varsity event until the final meet before Championship Season. However, her meteoric rise from February 2023 to now is a credit to the sophomore's talent, hard work, and competitive spirit. On the Long Jump runway, "Bubbles" was at her absolute best on Wednesday. She matched her PR of 17'8.50" on her second attempt, then on her final jump she exploded off the board and flew out to a distance of 18'2.50", which made her the new school record holder in the event. Ally Crooke's (LHS '10) previous LHS record set in 2009, which has stood nearly as long as Deardorf has been alive, was bested by nearly a half-foot. Along with Deardorf's big day, the team's Distance Squad was firing on all cylinders. Despite being a freshman, Alycia Charest proved that no moment is too big for her - she was called upon to race All-States as an alternate, and placed third on the team - during Cross Country. After a winter season playing hockey, she truly found her form against Reading. In her 2 Mile debut, Charest ran an even split 12:08.28 that earned her the win going away, and qualified her for the MIAA Division 1 Championships later this month. While Charest rocked it out in the 2 Mile, the trio of freshman Erin Ehmann, sophomore Thayer DiCerbo, and freshman Josie Bettencourt put on a show in the Mile. The girls came in with PRs of 5:42, 5:50, and 5:54 respectively, but on Wednesday they worked together, and competed hard for all four laps as they broke out the golden broom to sweep the event. Ehmann crossed the line first in a time of 5:34.55. She was followed by DiCerbo (5:41.98), and Bettencourt (5:45.40) as all three punched their tickets to the Middlesex League Championships. Finally, the Lex Girls came through with a solid one-two punch in the 400m. Sophomore Anika Steinbrecher turned in a PR of 1:02.96, which just edged out senior captain Jada Solomon (1:03.21) who crossed the line with a PR of her own. Those marks qualified Steinbrecher for Divisionals and Solomon for League.
The event of the day on the boys' side was undoubtedly the 800m, where senior captain Joey "The Candyman" Ryan squared off against the best in LHS's Mid-D group had to offer in juniors Max Zhang and Zach Barry. The LHS record holder for the Indoor 2 Mile, dropped down in distance, and competed in his first career open 800. Despite the inexperience, the Candyman showed no fear as he led the race from wire-to-wire. After a strong opening quarter mile of 58.57, he repeated that effort with a 58.88 second lap to cross the line in 1:57.44. That time held off the hard charge by Zhang, who finished in 1:58.79. For his efforts, Barry had a huge PR, as he broke the elusive two-minute barrier for the first time. His final time was 1:59.63, as The Minutemen completed the sweep of the event. Along with the show put on by the boys in the 800, sophomore captain Simon Tandeih is in preparation for the multi-events at the end of the season. That meant the hurdle/long jump specialist had to branch out into unfamiliar events against Reading. He began his day with a PR of 5:28.72 in the Mile, then headed right over to the Shot Put ring. There he was just off his personal best with a throw of 36'6.50". However, it was in the Discus where Tandeih was at his absolute best. Tandeih's sister Quin is the LHS record holder in the Girls Discus, so perhaps it just runs in the family, because after a modest first throw and a foul on his second, he unleashed the discus a whopping 121'4" on his final attempt. That mark ranks him #2 on LHS's depth chart, and MA #15 among sophomores in the event. And, to be clear, none of those other guys on that list can jump 21 feet in the Long Jump, or run the 110m Hurdles in 15 seconds. Not to be overlooked was the performance of senior Clifton Reid Jr in the 400m Hurdles. After a pair of solid races to open up the season, Reid Jr finally had the breakout performance he craved. He turned in a massive personal best of 1:00.75, which earned him his first trip to the Division 1 Championships of his career.
Other Highlights for the Girls
- Senior captain Katie Atkins began her day with a season best throw of 93'1" in the Javelin, which was well over the Divisional standard; she then came back to hit the mark in the 100m Hurdles with a PR of 16.68 seconds.
- Junior Alkisti Kokkinia (1:09.30) dominated the 400m Hurdles with a new personal best that ranks her MA #11 in the event.
- LHS's Bomb Squad was firing bullets in the Discus as sophomore Ainsley Cuthbertson and senior Quin Tandeih threw 108'7" and 95'9" respectively; both marks were personal/season bests, and over the Division 1 Championship standard.
- In the 100m, Solomon ran 13.27 seconds from the JV heats to qualify for the League Championships; sophomore Julianna Mathurin (13.43) also achieved the League standard from the JV sections.
- Freshman Marissa Hao (27.89) made the League mark in the 200m Dash.
- Junior Claire Cunningham earned the first victory of her high school career as she won the 800m in a League qualifying time of 2:32.20.
Other Highlights for the Boys
- The 4x400m Relay of senior Khai Uda-Thach, junior Tim George, freshman Cayden Chambers, and senior McKenna O'Hare Gibson combined to run a season best of 3:28.63, which qualified LHS for the Division 1 Championships in the event.
- Freshman Patrick Noonan won the Mile with a season best time of 4:27.43, which improved his Divisional qualifying mark; fellow classmate Trevor Stevens ran a huge PR of 4:40.88 to make the League mark; senior Owen Lawler (4:41.71) also dipped under the League standard.
- The 110m Hurdles saw senior Jacob Pan (15.55) improve his PR and Divisional qualifying time by one-hundredth of a second; sophomore Aidan Raney had a huge day for himself with a PR of 16.91 seconds, which qualified him for the League Championships.
- In the 200m, George (23.38) and Chambers (23.61) ran League qualifying times.
- Sophomore Will Parker (10:24.57) turned in a season best to hit the League mark in the 2 Mile.
- Along with Tandeih's big day, senior captain Elijah Brown (117'8") and his brother Christian (117'0") both had season best throws in the Discus, which qualified them for the League Meet.
Up Next
This Saturday, May the 4th is "Track Day" for The Minutemen. 3 locations, 2 meets, 1 day. LHS's underclassmen will get the day started at the Freshmen/Sophomore Meet in Weymouth at 9:30am. A select group of athletes will then travel to Weston for the annual Twilight Meet. Middle and Long Distance events will be held at Regis College beginning at 5:30pm, while everyone else will be at Weston High School where action will get underway at 5pm, and likely go to midnight if history repeats itself.