Winter Track & Field

Girls Track Emerges Victorious in Tri-Meet

Andover Girls Indoor Track & Field fought hard to hold off Lawrence High School and Governor’s Academy to earn a 74-43-19 victory at home on Wednesday, adding to a series of strong performances at the Greater Boston Track Club (GBTC) Invitational on Sunday. Andover remains undefeated this season with a record of 3-0.

Andover began the week at Sunday’s GBTC Invitational, hosted at Harvard University. A select group from Andover traveled to Harvard, where they competed against various collegiate, high school, and independent athletes in an unscored meet. The GBTC Invitational is especially prized by long sprinters and distance runners who find Harvard’s banked 200m track to be helpful in running fast times, according to Rachel Chang ’20.

“Running on the Harvard track was really interesting because it’s big, so the lanes are elevated a little. It helped my time, and it felt good,” said Chang, who competed in the 55-Meter Dash, the 300-Meter Dash, and the Long Jump. “There were a lot of new teams that we had never gone up against before. And I think it was interesting too, because we got to compete against Exeter, and we got to kind of get to know our competition.”

The meet also served as a way for athletes to practice racing nonstandard distances. Isabella Morzano ’18, who set a personal best of 5:28.82 minutes in the 1-Mile Run, said, “I hadn’t run the mile in a really long time, so I was just trying to kind of stick with the time I was seeded at and then adjust run the race based on how I was feeling in the time.”

Despite having a smaller team than usual, Andover put out several strong performances, including first place finishes in distance events.

In a scored meet on Wednesday, Andover triumphed over Lawrence High School and Governor’s Academy.

Captain Fredericka Lucas ’18 said, “Lawrence High… was a team that we hadn’t seen in a really long time. It was cool because we got to mix up our competition pool… they definitely showed some strong competition, but we still came out on top…  and also the addition of the 4x200m was great to have in because it’s a really fun, fast-paced race, and it’s the first time we’ve ever run it indoors.”

Lawrence High School put up some particularly fierce competition in the shot put, according to Miley Kaufman ’19.

“There was one girl [Adaeze Izuegbunam ’20] that was actually losing in the first three rounds of throwing, and then won by only two inches. So [we] really had to focus, because every little bit counted in this meet… Like Coach Bernieri says, you just can’t think, because if you think, you get in your own head and mess up, so it’s really important to just breathe and not think about what’s going on in your next throw,” said Kaufman.

Andover girls also had strong performances in the 1-Mile run, according to Sadie Cheston-Harris ’20, who finished third with a personal best 5:52.51 minutes.

Haris said, “All of us were five in a row, so we came in third, fourth, fifth, sixth, [and] seventh. It was really nice because we were working together. Everyone got good times.”

Lucas said, “[Lawrence High School and Governor’s] brought a pretty big team, and I think they had some standouts in all areas. They had some strong competitors in distance, and sprinting, and field events, so we definitely had to put our best foot forward and work hard today so that we could come out on top.”

Andover will keep training and preparing for its February meet against rival school Phillips Exeter Academy.

On Wednesday, Andover will host another five-way meet.