Andover Track and Field (3-1) showcased exceptional performances last week, with numerous records broken on both Saturday and Wednesday. On Saturday, Andover hosted the unscored NEPSTA All-Comers meet, which welcomed four hundred and twenty-eight athletes from the New England area to Andover’s very own Snyder Center (Snyder) On Wednesday, Track and Field had its final full team meet of the season against Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter), losing just by a singular point.
Jenna Robertson-Palmer ’27, a sprinter, shared how Saturday’s meet felt different than those in the past. She described the NEPSTA All-Comers meet as an opportunity to just enjoy the experience without worrying about the results.
Robertson-Palmer said, “I feel like up to that event we had some challenging meets cause they were for points or to score, but this meet was not a meet where we were really counting points, so it was really just to go out there and have fun and not really think about it, and be there to not win, but to compete.”
Sprinter Laura Mazzarelli ’27 discussed how Co-Captain Kamen Kaleb ’25 stood out because of his continual progression over the last few meets, including All-Comers on Saturday.
She said, “He did a really good job at [the] high jump… because he made a [Personal Record]. Last time he made a PR, and he made another one this time and I thought that was really impressive.”
Robertson-Palmer also highlighted two sprinters, Wiley Roossien ’26 and Co-Captain Audrey Powers ’24, for their persistence through hardships and dedication to running.
Robertson-Palmer said, “I have two actually; the first one was Wiley. Even though she said that she wasn’t as happy with her results, I think she showed perseverance because it was different events that we were running, and she stepped in and had a good time. The second person would probably be Audrey because she’s been coming back from an injury, and it’s her first time running in a few weeks. Although she didn’t get the times as good as the start of the season, she came back stronger, even though the results didn’t show that.”
Though the team faced challenges at Saturday’s meet, Robertson-Palmer praised their ability to bounce back from setbacks as an important mindset to have.
“The medley… wasn’t quite as planned as it was going. [Even] though there were a few kinks, they recovered, and they came back stronger which shows that even if it doesn’t go your way you still have to go back and work hard,” said Robertson-Palmer.
Robert Budinski ’26, a long-distance runner, emphasized Sami Tokat’s ’26 impressive performance in the 600-Meter Race.
Budinski said, “Sami Tokat had a really good race. He broke the class record in the [600-Meter Race]. He had a breakthrough performance and it was the first time he ran under a 1:30.”
Since Wednesday’s meet was both the final full team meet of the season and the highly anticipated Andover/Exeter meet, the energy in Snyder was particularly electric.
Budzinski said, “I think it was really exciting. There were a lot of people and everyone [was] bringing their A-game. Everyone was cheering really loudly, and it was a really great atmosphere.”
A select group of Track and Field athletes will compete at USATF this Sunday.
