Shattering his own New England Preparatory School Track Association (NEPSTA) 11th-Grade Shot-Put record, Noah Ward ’17 threw a distance of 52 feet 10.5 inches to comfortably secure first place against Wilbraham & Monson Academy (Wilbraham) and Governor’s on Wednesday. Andover Boys Track & Field clinched first place finishes in every event to cruise to an 87-16-15 win, and Andover Girls Track & Field produced a similarly impressive 57-15-45 victory.
Nathan Goldthwaite ’18 said, “The team performed really well. Each runner fought hard to the finish. One thing I love about indoor track is the huge amount of spirit concentrated in the room. Running while your teammates are all cheering and yelling around you just makes you want to go faster, and I love it. It was a good day for Andover Track & Field.”
Dominating the long distance events, Ralph Skinner ’16 won the One-Mile and Two-Mile with times of 5:10.71 and 11:41.07 minutes, respectively.
In the 600-Yard Dash, Goldthwaite and Ethan Brown ’17 sprinted to first and second places with times of 1:30.01 and 1:31.66 minutes, respectively. Post-Graduate (PG) Robert Jones ’16 clinched first place in the 50-Yard Dash with a time of 5.86 seconds.
Co-Captain Andrew Wang ’16 said, “When things got tough, all we had to do was look to our side and see another blue jersey fighting, enduring, winning beside us.”
Joe Okafor ’17 said, “To be completely honest, I think that the biggest factor in our win was something that… Andrew relayed to us before the meet. He told us to analyze that moment of silence before we sprint, before we jump, before we throw and look around the lower and upper levels of the track and realize that everyone has each other’s back, that your teammates are essentially your wings and can push you to succeed in your event.”
Andover Girls Track & Field impressed in the short distance events. Co-Captain Camille Little ’16 won the 50-Yard Dash, clocking a time of 6.44 seconds. Little continued to dominate in the 300-Yard Dash, placing first in her heat with a time of 40.54 seconds.
“The team did incredibly well. I am so proud of Sidney Holder ’17 who has been jumping incredibly well this season. I am also very happy that the boy throwers swept the shot-put. Both boys and girls won, and I couldn’t have asked for a better meet,” said Little.
Little won the Long Jump with an impressive distance of 15 feet 7 inches, while Sidney Holder ’17 came in a strong second place finish with a distance of 15 feet 6 inches. Alexis Lefft ’16 came in first place in the Shot-Put with a throw of 27 feet 8.5 inches.
Girls Track also performed well in long-distance events. Olivia LaMarche ’16 won the One-Mile with a time of 5:57.00 minutes, while Peyton McGovern ’16 won the Two-Mile in 11:49.09 minutes. Caroline Shipley ’16 snatched first in the 600-Yard Dash, finishing the race in 1:32.73 minutes and setting a personal record in the process.
The team looks to continue its success when it faces Wilbraham and Andover High School next Wednesday.
