Fredericka Lucas ’18 slid into lane one and cut off her opponent in the inner lane to secure first place in the 300-Yard Dash for Andover Girls Indoor Track & Field with a time of 41.99 seconds last Saturday. Lucas’s first-place finish added to Andover’s dominant 72-25.5-17.5 win in its first meet of the season against Governor’s and Wilbraham & Monson.
Lucas said, “This meet was an amazing way to start the season. Both our boys and girls teams won by landslides. I am honored to be a part of such a well-rounded team. We have strong athletes, both new and returning, in all of our events. Each member of the team brings positive energy to meets and practices.”
In addition to the 300-Yard Dash, Lucas displayed her athleticism in the 50-Yard Sprint and the High Jump, ranking first in both with a time of 6.64 seconds and a clearing height of 4 feet 8 inches. Captain Sidney Holder ’17 finished closely behind Lucas in the 50-Yard sprint with a time of 6.67 seconds.
Holder swept the Long Jump, beating the nearest competition by nine inches with a noteworthy 16-foot jump. Holder also played a huge role in the final 4×440-Yard Dash, finishing in 71.82 seconds and executing a perfect baton handoff to Krystiana Swain ’18.
“I think our relay team did a great job together. Sidney, who had never run in the first lane before, set me up perfectly close enough to the frontrunner to pass her before the end of my leg, and Georgia [Ezell ’19] and Deyana [Marsh ’17] secured the win by lengthening that gap tremendously,” said Swain.
While Holder and Lucas thrived in the short-distance events, Post-Graduate Samantha Valentine ’17 placed first in both the 1-Mile and 2-Mile races, speeding through the events with times of 5:20.38 and 11:57.70 minutes, respectively.
Following an extremely successful fall season, Valentine has had to quickly transition from Andover Girls Cross Country to indoor track this winter.
“The indoor track is the complete opposite of running on a cross country course,” wrote Valentine in an email to The Phillipian. “It’s almost more difficult to run around the sharp turns on the gym floor of the indoor track than the hills of a cross country course.”
Another member of both the Cross Country and Indoor Track teams, newcomer Alisa Crueger-Cain ’20 placed first in the 1000-Yard dash with a time of 3:13.15 minutes.
Adding to Andover’s first-place finishes, Marsh won the 50-Yard Hurdles with a time of 8.33 seconds. Josephina Caico ’19 earned third place in the 300-Yard Dash, finishing in 42.69 seconds.
Holder said, “I think the team did an amazing job on Saturday. We had people trying events they have never done before and [they were] doing really well. One thing that we did [a] really great job [of] this weekend was support. Many people stayed until the end of the meet and cheered on their teammates.”
After break, Andover looks to display the same level of ability in another home meet against Governor’s and Wilbraham.
“I think going forward, we just need to keep working hard and getting into scoring positions,” said Holder. “We have the numbers and the talent, now it’s really about getting some work in over the break and coming back ready for our next meet, which will be the Wednesday we get back.”