“Exhilarating.” This was the first word that came to mind for Simone Hill ’08 when asked about this Wednesday’s meet. In a home meet against archrivals, Exeter, the Andover Girls Varsity Track team found itself in a familiar position. Just like the meet against Andover High School, this meet came down to the 4 x 400 relay. Before the relay, the team was down by one, but, working well under pressure; the Andover girls came out on top. Although the team lost a few runners to injuries, those who were healthy produced some spectacular performances. In the cage, littered with blue and red uniforms, parents, teachers, and students cheered the track team on to victory. Unfortunately Captain Marty Schnure ’06 was one of the injured athletes and was unable to compete. On the amazing team performance, she commented, “People were getting personal bests all over the place.” Captain Schnure also added, “We haven’t had meets for a month, so we’ve just been training really hard which really paid off. Even though the odds were against us going into the meet, everything came together.” Andover went into the meet unsure of the outcome, but, due to some outstanding performances by newcomers and returners alike, Andover was victorious. Kit Harris ’07 commented on the team’s dramatic victory saying, “Going in, [beating Exeter] was a long shot and nobody thought it was possible, but everyone on the team stepped up to make it happen”. Harris had a notable performance in the 600-yard race and the hurdles, as well as the 4 x 400. Following Harris, Colleen Thurman ’07 had a strong performance in the long jump, jumping a hefty 16 feet. Carolyn Pollard ’07 had outstanding performances as well. Pollard placed third in the 50-yard dash, following Hill with a time of 6.6 seconds. Hill came in first in 6.45 seconds. Pollard also placed first in the 300 with a spectacular time of 41.5 seconds and won the hurdles. Alyse Kennedy ’06 had an outstanding performance in the high jump, jumping 4’10” to place first. She said, “We were basically tied the whole time which can be stressful, but everyone was able to overcome the stress.” Michelle Nguyen ’07 gave an impressive jump, placing second at 4’8”. An ecstatic Nguyen commented, “This meet was definitely the highlight of the season. Even though we have been undefeated all season, beating Exeter tops everything we’ve done so far this season. The meet was really close, but we pulled through and I’m really proud of everyone.” In the final and deciding event of the meet, a team of Pollard, Harris, Kennedy and Hannah Comeau ’06 brought home the victory. Comeau commented, “We have a lot of potential as a team, and I think that the coming meets are going to go really well for us.” This and every other victory this season has been a combination of extreme effort and team spirit. The short season will come to a close with the New England Championships and an Invitational Meet at Harvard. The Exeter meet concludes the dual meets for the term, and many of the girls are already looking forward to spring track.
