Josh Seiple ’23 dove over the finish line to secure a time of 6.92 seconds, setting the Junior school record in the 55 meters race. Seiple placed second behind Alex Schimmel ’22, who held the previous Junior record of 7.09 seconds. These strong finishes contributed to a final score of 90-51-8-8-3, with Andover Boys Track defeating Phillips Exeter Academy in the team’s annual ninth and tenth grade meet.
According to Glen Cahilly ’23, watching Seiple shatter the record and the improvement of other teammates boosted the overall energy of the meet.
Cahilly said, “It was really cool seeing Josh Seiple break the freshman 55 meter record. I know his goal going into this season was to break 7.09 seconds and he absolutely destroyed that goal. He ended up running 6.92 seconds, which was incredible for him. It was really positive all around.”
According to Charlie Benjamin ’23 and Leverett Wilson ’23, the atmosphere of the meet was incredibly uplifting and positive, even without the presence of the upperclassmen.
“I was just a volunteer, so I was helping some kids out. Today I had to mark the pole vaulting scores and Alex wasn’t feeling super confident before he vaulted, so I made sure I was really loud when I cheered for him and made sure that he got loud for everyone else,” said Benjamin.
Wilson added, “I feel like the energy today was almost tangible. Everyone was really psyched to be here. It was a little hard because we didn’t have as big of a crowd… only Lowers and [Juniors competed], but I feel like everyone was really happy with their performances today.”
According to Coach Louis Bernieri and Cahilly, the annual lowerclassmen meet serves as a starting point for the newer team members to set personal records, as well as to get a sense of what Andover-Exeter athletic competitions feel like.
Bernieri said, “The kids are awesome. They work so hard every day and you can see their improvement throughout the season. This meet gives a nice feel to the young kids, the Juniors and the Lowers, to see what [Andover/Exeter] is like as they move ahead.”
Cahilly added, “Moving into Andover/Exeter, people are trying out different events to find what they’re going to be competing in. They’re doubling up or tripling up on events and doing a lot more than usual. It was a great workout day for some people and a great race day for other people. We had a lot of [Personal Records], too.”
According to Mike Garbarino ’22 and Wilson, the younger half of the team hopes to continue the progress they have made thus far into the final Andover/Exeter meet next Wednesday.
Wilson said, “It’s really exciting to see the potential of the lowerclassmen and get a chance to see what the competition’s like for people in our own age range. We also get a chance to see where we are in comparison to Exeter. We’re all doing well and just trying to get fully amped up for Andover/Exeter.”
“We saw a lot of improvements from everybody, so hopefully that continues into Andover/Exeter,” Garbarino continued.
Andover will compete in its final meet of the season against Exeter at home on Wednesday.