In a solo sprint in front of over five hundred spectators, Phil Hofer ’10 ran a spectacular 800 Meter Dash to win the gold at the USATF Indoor Metropolitan Youth Championships last Sunday at the Armory in New York City. Charlie Ganner ’10 ran a phenomenal 1500-meter race, leading right off the starting line through to the finish. Hofer, who was tripped in the initial race by another competitor, took advantage of the rules and ran alone a second time, winning with a time of 2:06. In the 800 Meter event, rules state that if a runner is tripped in the first turn that the starter must restart the race. However, the race official did not restart the race. Hofer protested, and was granted the opportunity to race again, on the condition that he would have to run the race alone. With nothing but a leading time to base his pace on, Hofer ran an excellent race, beating out the next time by over two seconds. Hofer said, “I’ve never had more fun. It was a great experience, but I hope I never have to run totally alone again. The whole crowd was cheering really loudly and I have never run for a bigger audience.” Ganner also took home the gold in New York. Ganner took the lead right off of the gun, holding a steady pace throughout the race. No other racer got close to Ganner, and he won with an exceptional time of 4:15. Ganner commented on his performance, “The competition in my event was not very strong, so this was really a test meet for me. Phil and I both led our own races pretty easily, even though he had to start again because he was tripped.” He continued, “We used the meet to get back into the groove of racing and to see how we are shaping up for track in the spring.” Hofer added on to Ganner’s comments, “Charlie had a great race. There was really no competition for him. His race last Sunday was faster than his 1500 Meter time from the beginning of last year’s track season, so that is really good to see.” With both of their excellent performances, the distance team for Andover track is looking strong. Hofer and Ganner both look to improve on a strong season from last year and lead the long distance division of the team.
