Harvard University lent its state-of-the-art indoor track to the Andover Boys and Girls track teams last Sunday in the Greater Boston Track Club Invitational, as Andover athletes butted heads with their college counterparts. Among the schools represented were Wheaton College, Long Island University, U Mass Lowell, Stonehill College, Bentley College, Essex County College, AirTime Athletic and other track club teams. Sprinter Coach David Callum ’94, who competed in the meet himself, said prior to the day’s competition, “This meet will be practically all colleges with a number of elite Olympic athletes and a few talented high school individuals. Phillips Academy will certainly have the largest high school contingent. Last year our meet performances culminated in a girls 4×220 relay, which we won, beating out all the college teams. This year we look to repeat much of the same success with a strong team.” Running at Harvard “also provides a great facility and a 200m banked track which allows for spikes,” Callum continued. “This kind of track provides for a lot of potentially good results, and it will be fantastic to return to Harvard at the end of the season, just prior to Andover-Exeter with a larger squad all in shape and ready to compete in the USATF New Englands.” Greg Hsu ’06, who ran a 200 meter personal best in 25.39 seconds, said, “As it was a new experience for most of the Andover runners, some of the times suffered from the strange environment and stress, while others thrived on it.” O’Shea Galan ’04, with an excellent heat in the 200 meters, was among one of the best performing boys sprinters. Galan placed 29th out of 43 in the 60 Meter Dash, with a blazing time of 7.47 seconds. He also placed 32nd out of 50 in the 200 Meter Dash, with a time of 24.28 seconds. John Freker ’04, Jon Hillman ’05, and Dan Serna ’04, all clocked in sub-five minutes miles 4:41, 4:53, 4:56, respectively. Freker won his heat, taking the lead from the start and never looking back. One of the men’s star performances on Sunday was Adam Kapor’s 800 Meter Run. He placed 13th out of 33 with a time of 2:05.26. In the 3000, Chris Donais ’05 clocked in with 9:40.65 and Sean Hamilton ’06 with 10:19.95. Kojo Degraft-Hanson ’05 ran the 200 meters in a remarkable 24.71 seconds, and he placed 37th out of 50. Lissy Robie ’04 ran a stunning one mile race. She placed seventh with an impressive time of 5:36.24. Marty Schnure ’06 had an exceptional 60 meter hurdling race. She made it to the finals and placed 6th with a time of 9.93 seconds. Jackie Latina ’04 reached the semi-finals of the 60 meter dash with a time of 8.40 seconds. She also had a spectacular 200-meter dash in a fast time of 27.42 seconds. She placed 21st out of 48 participants. Sonia DeYoung ’05 and Leila Adell ’05 also ran well in the 200, and beat some college athletes with times of 29.39 and 31.89 seconds respectively. Robie said, “I think first-meet jitters were definitely there, but everyone did really well despite some intimidating opponents. Particularly fine performances came from the 4×220 team…Latina, Schnure, PG Lexie Dwyer ’04, and Cassie Tognoni ’05, in their relay and individual events. She continued, “The Phillips team placed sixth in the Women’s 4 x 220 Yard Relay. Stonehill College beat the Phillips team by only .41 of a second! PA clocked in at 1:53.41.” Hoppy Maffione ’04 had a strong showing in the 3000 and newcomer Nicole Bucala ’06 ran a gutsy mile, the first of her career. Becca Howe ’06 finished strong in the 800 and showed her potential for the season ahead. Robie said, “Although Andover Track competed against DIII College teams, it fared well and ran some of their runners off the track. Considering that they’re much older, that’s something to be really proud of. As far as the potential Olympians, we kind of just watched them from the bleachers in awe…They definitely gave us some inspiration.” “I think this season looks great,” Robie continued, “These early, strong performances mean plenty more to come as we get stronger and faster.”
