Andover Girls Track and Field earned a 91-54 victory over Andover High School this past Saturday. Coming off the back of a New England Track Championship, the new 2017 team, led by Captain Deyana Marsh ’17, had ten first place victories in this meet.
Fredericka Lucas ’18, a standout sprinter and jumper for Andover, earned three different victories during the day, the most on the team. Lucas ran the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.59, the 200-meter dash in 26.52, and secured a win in the high jump with a height of 4 feet 10 inches.
“One major factor that contributed to our win was our depth. We had multiple scorers in ten events, and we swept first through third place in the 800 [meter dash] and the long jump. We have strong athletes in every event, which really reflects how strong the team is as a whole,” wrote Lucas.
Teammate and fellow sprinter and jumper, Sidney Holder ’17 finished shortly behind Lucas earning second place in both the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash with times of 12.96 and 26.81, respectively. In the long jump, Holder earned a first place victory with an impressive jump of 16 feets 3 inches.
Maddy Silveira ’20 and Madison Bourassa ’20 secured second and third place finishes respectively in the long jump.
Bourassa wrote, “It was a team effort. Everyday we would practice and train hard…. It is especially enjoyable to be competing when the whole team is there to cheer you on.”
Mirroring her cross country dominance in the fall season, Samantha Valentine ’17 topped her distance event, finishing the 1500-meter dash in 4:48.65 to claim first place by a margin of 37 seconds.
Michaela Jones ’18, also a cross-country runner, won the 3000-meter dash with a time of 10:44.07.
Multiple points came from returners, Krystiana Swain ’18, Isabella Morzano ’18, and Ava Stills ’19. Each athlete earned victories over Andover High in the 400-meter dash, 800-meter dash, and 300-meter dash hurdles respectively.
Tessa Conrardy ’20, a newcomer, finished second in the 300-meter dash, 400-meter dash hurdles, and high jump earning a plethora of points for her team.
First place winner in the Discus, Makenna Marshall ’18 wrote, “I think the factors that contributed most were team depth and consistency. We have a lot of girls in all the events, which means we’re more likely to place. The girls this year are also more consistent in practice and in competition which makes us a stabler team.”
Demonstrating this depth, Margot Forti ’17 finished second in the javelin with a score of 94-11 while Serena Liu ’19 placed third with 87-02.
Liu wrote, “All of the event coaches pushed us to get into good form and shape so that we could start the season off strong. Specifically, the throw coaches, Coach Bernieri and Coach Gorham, encouraged us to work on our technique like steps and form so that we could have a solid foundation for Saturday. After focusing on technique, we can look to further develop our throws for distance.”
The team cemented its victory with the final event. Valentine, Morzano, Jones, and Georgia Ezell ’19 ran a time of 4:31.06 to win the 4x400m Relay.
Even though many athletes will be leaving campus for Easter Weekend, Andover looks to earn another victory as the team will host both Deerfield and Taft in its first conference meet of the season.
