Lillie Cooper ’21 crossed the finish line with a time of 4:10.16, securing the victory for Andover in the 4×400-Meter relay. Cooper’s and others’ efforts helped propel Andover Girls Track & Field forward in a tri-meet against Phillips Exeter Academy and St. Paul’s this past Wednesday. Andover placed first in seven of the 17 events and scored a total of 71.5 to St. Paul’s 48 and Exeter’s 58.5.
Cooper said, “Overall as a team, we performed really well. This is the middle of the season, so we have been doing a lot of training up to this point. We haven’t had a meet in a while, so it was really good to get some competition in this week. Exeter and St. Paul’s are both really strong teams and we will see them again later in the championships so just seeing how we compete and place against them was really helpful.”
Despite the team’s overall success, Andover’s 4×100-Meter relay team faced technical difficulties in the midst of the racing, leading to its disqualification from the event, according to Melanie Cheung ’20.
“We didn’t have the opportunity to practice the handoff before the race, so I think during the race, we had bit more space than usual which led to a late call. When she got to the end zone, she halted, and I ran right into her, so we bumped right out of the exchange zone,” Cheung said.
While the disqualification was disappointing, each member recovered and continued to perform well in the later events, according to Kiera Suh ’22.
“Everyone who was in the 4×100-Meter relay competed in individual events afterward and their previous performance didn’t have any lasting effect on them which was great that they were able to bounce back,” Suh said.
There were also non-favorable weather conditions, which the team pushed through to compete its best, according to Suh.
“The conditions weren’t great, as the track was a little wet and a little slippery. Despite this, I think we all did a good job not letting that interfere with our performance.”
Andover proved to be especially competitive in the field events, placing first in the high jump, long jump, and javelin. Carolina Weatherall ’21 had a height of five feet in the high jump to secure first place and a personal record.
Cooper said, “Carolina Weatherall really stood out today. She got a [personal record] in the high jump which was really fun to watch. Everyone on the team was really excited for her as she cleared the bar.”
In the final event of the meet, Andover’s Sadie Cheston-Harris ’20, Tessa Conrady ’20, Athalia Esty ’22, and Cooper worked together to dominate in the 4×400-Meter Relay, winning the event with a time of 4:10.16 and securing the overall victory for Andover.
According to Cooper, “The 4×400-Meter was definitely a highlight. We needed to win the event in order to win the whole meet. Every single leg was really strong. Athalia Esty was the third leg and really made the lead a lot wider. That gave me the confidence to sprint faster and bring it home.”
Andover will travel to Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH) this Saturday to compete against both Loomis Chaffee and NMH.
Editor’s Note: Tessa Conrardy is the President of The Phillipian.
