Andover Boys Indoor Track & Field was behind by just a few yards going into the last leg of the 4×400-Meter Relay before Captain Alex Fleury ’20 took in the energy of the crowd and passed his opposing runner at the finish line by 0.22 seconds.
Andover ended up falling to Phillips Exeter Academy 75-34 in its home dual meet on Wednesday. This meet capped off the official 2020 Indoor Track & Field season for the team.
“I think this meet compared to some other ones, I think we had a higher energy and just a stronger atmosphere as a team together. It felt tighter, like a core group, and really stuck out in the races. Everybody supported each other, so that was good,” said Josh Seiple ’23, who placed second overall in the 300-Meter Dash. He was also part of the school record-breaking 4×200 Meter Relay that fell to Exeter.
The unique energy of the Andover/Exeter meet and the team’s commitment to cheer on one another improved its performances, according to Marc Vidal ’23 and Alex Meyer ’20.
“Everybody just ran to cheer [for] everybody… to see the finish of every single race. Andover/Exeter [gets] everybody on their nerves, and hyped at the same time,” said Vidal.
Meyer added, “It’s really crazy. It’s one of those meets where everybody is waiting at the finish. We all sit by the bleachers at the start of the lap, and we’ll all run to the finish line as they are going around to cheer them on, because it’s so competitive and everybody just wants to run.”
According to Meyer, the team also achieved multiple personal records as a result of consistent training throughout the whole season, adding to the positive energy of the meet.
A select roster of the team will compete at Harvard University in two weeks for the New England Championship meet.
