Indoor Track & Field sees numerous personal, school, and facility records broken in latest meet.
Girls
Boys
Indoor Track & Field hosted a quint-meet this past Wednesday against Governor’s, Wilbraham & Monson (Wilbraham), Marianapolis, Montrose, and Landmark School (Landmark). Overall, countless athletes set personal, school, and facility records. Eden Dunleavy ’29 captured the Junior 300-Meter record in 42.48 seconds. Bennett Rodgers ’26’s mark in pole vault is currently the season’s highest among all Massachusetts competitors in the event. However, these highlights are just the tip of the iceberg as many athletes showed remarkable effort across the board.
For many of Andover’s Indoor Track & Field athletes, this meet marked their first performance after Winter Break. Robert Budzinski ’26 mentioned how, although many athletes had modest expectations for this meet, they were still proud of their efforts.
“A lot of people didn’t know what to expect, and a lot of people really surprised themselves. I know we had a ton of [personal records] in just the 300-Meter alone even though it had been a long time since anyone had run that event. People got to see the hard training they did pay off,” said Budzinski.
The team has been working hard in practice, both physically and mentally, with strong effort during workouts, along with developing a steady mentality and spirit. Adanna Obi ’29 emphasized that attempts to center oneself before a race can affect the outcome, as well as efforts to unite the team.
“For meet warm ups, we do the same warm up we do in practice, but at the end of our warm up, we do a huddle up where we do ‘blue, hard body,’ and it unifies us together… I also learned to go out there, focus on myself, not get overwhelmed by being around a lot of people,” said Obi.
Although Indoor Track & Field is primarily an individual sport, athletes engage in friendly competition alongside each other in a race to compete for their personal best. Obi mentioned how she appreciates how her teammates push her during practice. Tyler Baty ’27 agreed with this sentiment, shouting out Russell McLaren [’27] for leading by example to maintain strong form and energy.
“A couple days throughout the week, we will focus on block starts, putting it in slow motion to point out the little things… that can make or break your time. I would like to shout out Russell McLaren. This was his first time running the 4 by 400[-Meter Relay], and that’s not an easy feat. He had a great second leg and gave us the lead,” said Baty.
Having a mid-week meet, especially during mid-term week, can be challenging, as many students must transition from high-pressure academic environments to focusing on their athletic performances. Budzinski described how he alters his state of mind to better accommodate Wednesday meets.
“Transitioning out of school mode to that can be pretty tough. Considering it was a meet on a Wednesday, it had a really good atmosphere. People got loud during the races, particularly during the 4 by 400[-Meter Relay], which is the last race. I remember looking over towards the high jump, and I heard a bunch of really loud cheering, and people were really excited. A kid jumped over six feet for the first time, so people were really excited about that,” said Budzinski.
Personal records were set. Bailey Jean-Pierre ’26 and Asher Egerton-Idehen ’26 set a personal record of 6’0” in the High Jump, along with Lucien Herndon ’28, who achieved a personal best of 5’8” in the High Jump. The 4 by 200-Meter Relay group consisted of Obi, Ela Budzinski ’28, Lauren Signoriello ’27, and Julie Chan ’27, and they almost tied the Snyder Center record with a time of 1:44.83.
This meet boosted the team’s momentum, exciting the smaller group of runners competing at Harvard University in the Greater Boston Track Club Invitational this Sunday, along with a full team meet next Wednesday against Austin Preparatory School (Austin Prep) and North Reading.
