This year’s outdoor track team plans to run faster, jump higher and throw farther than ever before. In all the events, returning athletes and newcomers to the team are fit and ready to dominate in this weekend’s competition against cross-town rival Andover High School. “This is the best team we have had in five years, if not more,” said Captain Peter Hetzler ’10. “We have all events covered with tremendous athletes.” Both teams look to be the best in New England this year and hope to win the NEPSTA Championships. The boys’ team came in second to Hotchkiss last year at the Championships, their biggest competitor. However, the current team is poised to beat them. Hetzler said, “They always have very good athletes, but our team is much stronger this year with the addition of new students and PG’s along with the experience of the returning students. It will be a great season.” Andover’s team has matured since last year, and most of the star athletes are now seniors and able to compete at a higher level than last year. “Seniors play a huge roll. Most of the relay runners are seniors, and almost all of the individual running events are run by them,” said Hetzler. There are more than 20 Seniors on the boy’s team alone, many of whom were top athletes even last year. Along with Hetzler in the 400 meter race, Bobby Vardaro ’10, Alec Bingaman ’10 and Nate Johnson ’10 look to be leaders in the shot put, javelin and pole vault, their respective events. Captain Colleen Flanagan ’10 looks to break more records in the pole vault as she did during the indoor season, while Melissa Ferrari ’10, Meghan Macafferty ’10 and Jasmine Stovall ’10 look to dominate the high jump and shot put respectively. The team also hosts many newcomers in all events. John Westling ’12 and Chris Higgins ’10, all new to the school, proved their sprinting speed in indoor track, while Keaton Cashin ’10 will show his strength in the javelin. Kate Bulger ’11 led the cross-country team, winning the final championships, and has been training all winter. She will be a great addition for the girls distance team, who graduated five of its top runners last year. “We have more numbers and depth this year. Because of the maturity of last year’s athletes, newcomers and PGs, and some switches from other sports, the boys are a lot stronger than last year,” said Coach Bernieri. He continued, “With the girls, we’re strong in several events. However, the question will be if we have enough people who can score high enough to win a championship again.”
