Denzil Pierre PG ’25 competes in long jump event.
On Wednesday, Girls and Boys Outdoor Track opened its season against St. Paul’s, Concord Academy, Windsor, and Montrose following two canceled meets. Despite strong winds and cold conditions, Andover’s athletes delivered strong wins.
Michelle Onyeka ’27 complimented Arashi Hunter ’25 [Post-Graduate] and Co-Captain Naima Reid ’25 on their races, both running against strong opponents.
“I want to point out Arashi—he’s a [Postgraduate student]— and Naima Reid— she’s a senior. This was the first time I ever saw Arashi run an 800m and his strides are crazy and he was so strong and you could see the wind because we had like tail wind, but when you were going down the back stretch it was horrible because you’re running directly against the wind and Arashi was strong the whole time. I don’t know how he felt about it personally, but watching it was so incredible. He put such a big gap between him and everyone else,” said Onyeka.
Onyeka continued, “Secondly, Naima did the 4x100m, 4x200m and 4x400m. She did everything and she cooked. In the 4x100m she had to run the back stretch and against the wind. Then in the 400m,having to do a full lap, a full sprint, that’s really rough, especially when you know you’re gonna get hit by the wind. So, I thought those two really stood out to me personally.”
On the other hand, Caitlin Ly ’27 commended Sarah Bae ’26 and Ela Budzinski ’28 for their excellent form and effort throughout each race, highlighting their wins and awesome composure during the meet.
“I definitely would say Sarah Bae [stood out]: she ran the 100 meter hurdles and the 300 meter hurdles and she got first in the 100 meter hurdles and then second in the 300 meter hurdles. I think she had a really good performance in the 100m and she worked really hard and she came out with a win. I also think Ela, who ran the 400m, did a really good job. She maintained strong form throughout and it was a great way to open the season,” said Ly.
While the cold weather was definitely a challenge, Murathime Daisley ’26 emphasized the team’s “warm” and supportive atmosphere that gave each player confidence to challenge their limits.
“Despite the cold weather, it was a very warm atmosphere between the team and in terms of the support that the team was giving each other. I think a lot of athletes showed out today and I think everyone did because it was just super cold. I can’t really pinpoint one person, but I think I saw everyone challenge themselves and embrace elements, which is good,” said Daisley.
Congratulating this week’s successes and looking forward to the next week, Daisley, a middle-distance athlete, corroborated both the Girls and Boys 4×400-Meter races. She also gave insight into the team’s training and workouts in preparation for its upcoming meets.
“Both of the 4×400-Meter teams swept, which was good. They were by a significant amount, which was fun to see. It was exciting to see everyone compete for the first time. I think now that we have some times down just trying to work on what we thought our weaknesses were for everyone, that’s gonna be different. I’m excited to see how we’re gonna do under ideal conditions because I think everyone did pretty well under some pretty tough conditions today, so that’s exciting,” said Daisley.
Similarly, Ly, a sprinter, described the team’s goals for next week’s meets and how the team is currently training to reach these goals.
“Last week we were doing some good workouts, getting the work in for our Saturday meet, but then it got canceled. So then this week we were just working on maintaining what we built upon from last week. So we did some lighter stuff and then also technical work before the meet. This meet was definitely colder, so we didn’t get the best performances, but I think for working towards the next meets, I believe it’s next Wednesday, so it’ll be a bit warmer, but just maintaining that good energy that we have and keeping up the hard work in practices as well as working on form and other things like that,” said Ly.
Girls and Boys Outdoor Track and Field will face Austin Prep and Landmark at home next Wednesday.
