Patrick Flanagan ’23 placed first overall in the javelin throw
Boys Track was amped to take on Deerfield and Taft this past Saturday, coming away in second place. The score between Deerfield, Andover, and Taft was 79.5-76-24.5 respectively.
With a number one finish in javelin from Patrick Flanagan ’23 as well as Constantine Krenteras ’24 filling a last minute substitution in the four by four relay, Andover was able to achieve great success in the first full meet of the season, taking second by 2.5 points to Deerfield
Co-Captain Cato Legaspi ’22 found the meet exciting after waiting a week to kick off the season. He was very proud of his teammates and acknowledged that many met or surpassed their personal bests in various events.
“I think we knew it was going to be competitive with both teams. Deerfield has a really strong program…It was super exciting as a lot of people set personal bests in the field events, the sprints and the relays did really well. It was an exciting day, especially after last week as the meet was canceled because of the rain. I was able to set a personal best in the shot put with a distance of 47 feet 2 inches, which was exciting. I was able to take first place in the discus as well. I was happy to help the team, I scored 13 of our points, so I was pretty proud of that. Hoping to help next week in the Deerfield relays, which are team-oriented,” said Legaspi.
Flanagan shared a similar sentiment to Legaspi, bringing to light notable performances by Aidan Porter ’23 in shot put as well as Charlie Benjamin ’23 in javelin. Flanagan himself had nothing short of a noteworthy performance, bringing home first place for Andover in his first meet throwing javelin.
Flanagan said, “For me personally, I competed in the javelin event and it went really well for me. It was my first time competing in a track meet, let alone javelin, and I ended up winning it all for Andover by just a small measure of three feet…Benjamin is a javelin thrower as well and he hadn’t been practicing javelin too much, but on the meet day, he threw some of the best throws I had ever seen and came super close without much practice or technique. Porter threw the shot put and he went over his personal best and ended up coming in second. I am super proud of him for that.”
According to Porter, it was the support and encouragement of teammates that allowed for his success. He found these qualities crucial in fostering a positive team atmosphere.
“Everyone is really good about cheering on one another. It was really awesome at the end of the meet when everyone circled around the pole vault runway and watched Kurt Meyer [’23] do his last few pole vaults, that was a pretty special moment. I think just the fact that everyone is really willing to help out one another and cheer on one another makes for a really good team atmosphere,” said Porter.
Flanagan agreed with Porter about team effort and enthusiasm. He pointed out that while everyone may not be fully acquainted, the team is still a family.
“There are a lot of people on the team, so it’s hard to know everybody, but everyone cheers for everyone like they are their best friend. Track is often seen as an individualistic sport, but definitely a strength of the team this early into the season is that it’s a big family feel, there’s a lot of support and energy coming from the team. You see someone running and maybe they aren’t doing their best, but you can see everyone on the sidelines going crazy for them and maybe push them a little bit harder,” said Flanagan.
Legaspi also set goals for the team to work on in the coming weeks as Interschols approaches. He mentioned how essential repetition and technique will become in the future of the season.
“For the field events getting pickier about our forms, things need to be slightly tweaked to get more distances. For the runner getting more reps. Either way, you are getting strong. Our goal is to speak at the Inter School meet in May. Just trying to build our endurance, speed, and strength so that by the time the important meets come around we are ready.”
Boys Track hopes to claim another victory against Deerfield on Saturday.
