Spring Track & Field

Girls Track Clinches One-Point Victory Over Rivals

In the four by 200-meter relay, Post-Graduate Sophia Slovenski ’18 handed off the baton to Co-Captain Fredericka Lucas ’18 with a narrow lead. Lucas extended Andover Girls Indoor Track and Field’s lead to cross the line in 1:51.60 minutes for a new school and facility record while also cutting Phillips Exeter Academy’s ten point lead in half, putting the score at 32-27.

Despite Exeter’s lead, Andover was able to come out victorious, securing a 55-54 victory and an undefeated 4-0 season record last Saturday.

“For a while, it was so close between Andover and Exeter that you could not tell who was going to win. In the end, we pulled through, with every leg being amazing,” said Lucas.

Isobel Glass ’21 and Rachel Chang ’20, who were part of the winning four by 200 meter relay, credit Andover’s success to team spirit.

Glass said, “What helped contribute to my performance was the enthusiastic spectators, advice from generous coaches and the super encouraging and supportive vibes from all my teammates… along with the fact that this meet was against Exeter.”

“Having such a big crowd, which included Mr. Snyder and Mr. Palfrey, really contributed to our win. I could feel their energy coursing through me as I was running,” said Chang. “For me, this meet was special for a couple reasons. We have this beautiful new facility and a lot of important people were there. There was such a large crowd that it almost felt like the entire school came to support us. It made me feel as though track mattered to the community and that we had to make it proud.”

The four by 200-meter relay was followed by a first, second, and third place sweep in the pole vault, led by Slovenski’s 10’6” inch clearance, a vault that matched her school record and raised the facility record by half a foot. Jocelyn Shen ’18 and Mia Cheung ’21 scored the remainder of the points to give Andover a 42-35 lead.

Alongside its four by 200-meter relay and the pole vault, Lucas’s first place finish in the 300-meter dash with a time of 44.00 seconds and Michaela Jones ’18 second place finish in the 1000-meter run with a time of 3:19.46 minutes, sealing Andover’s victory against Exeter.

Andover looks to carry its season success to the USATF New England Championships next Sunday.