Boys A: Andover- 3rd
Boys B: Andover – 3rd
Girls C: Andover – 3rd
Boys C: Andover – 3rd
On Wednesday, Cycling traveled to New Hampshire’s NASCAR Motor Speedway for a race against five other schools: Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter), Proctor Academy (Proctor), Holderness, Portsmouth High School, and Exeter High School. Matt Robinson ’27 placed third in the Boys A division, Henry Wall ’27 finished third in the Boys B division, Sonya Caro Del Castillo ’26 placed third in the Girls A division, and Arden Quan ’29 placed third in the Girls B division. Andover now sits in second place in the New England Region Cycling League (NERCL) team standings.
Quan highlighted Wall’s third place finish in the Boys B division and described the factors that contributed to his placement.
“Henry had a good race. He got third in his division, and he kept up with the main pack for the entire race. He came in a third place finish by not only being the first person to attack and starting the race, but also being that person to attack at the very end and push the pace leading to a third place victory, ” said Quan.
Co-Captain David Porto ’26 shared the strategy that the team went into its races with. It aimed to keep pace with the rest of the pack instead of attacking at first and losing energy afterwards. He also shared how he personally raced today, after gaining motivation from Robinson, his Co-Captain.
“Most of the game plan was making sure we kept up with the pack. A lot of strong riders and our previous race experience had been that some riders are going to be really strong and go out front and attack. And just trying to maintain in that pack of riders was important. At first, I was cut off-guard, since the race slowed down significantly and we were just chatting with each other. Then, my Co-Captain [Matt] Robinson started attacking, and I was thinking, ‘we’re starting to go on the race.’ By the end of the race, I felt like I had given all I had to give, “ said Porto.
Having raced on this track last week and on various other occasions, the team has grown more familiar with it and the format. Robinson shared how knowing the configuration of the racetrack helped the team plan its game strategy.
“We knew it was going to be a long hill to the finish line, so our plan was to try to stick with the pack and break away from the pack on the hill, on a course with a long downhill and then a long uphill, ” said Robinson.
Both Quan and Porto highlighted Frank Hu ’26 and Robinson for not only their impressive performances, but their strategy in and dedication to the race.
“Frank and Matt Robinson stepped up. Matt came in a third place finish by attacking at the very end and pushing the pace. Frank, who had a phenomenal performance, used the downhill to his advantage to come back from that last place finish and ended up pretty well,” said Porto.
With one race left in the season, the team looked back and reflected on their past races for areas of improvement. Porto shared how having better tactics and strategy in close situations, such as when a racer is head-to-head with another racer, can drastically change the race.
“I think [areas of improvement] are probably going to be in some of our tactics. A lot of our riders ended up in situations where it was them against someone else, or them with someone else. Learning how to work together during those situations as well as having the endurance to catch up to the pack when you’re just by yourself are the biggest things that we have to work on,” said Porto.
Cycling will return to the NASCAR Motor Speedway on Wednesday, May 13 for its final circuit race.
