Sports Winter Sports Winter Track & Field

John Gorton ’15 and Camille Little ’16 Spearhead Success for Andover

In the last two laps of the one-mile race, Captain John Gorton ’15 sprinted in front of a Wilbraham and Monson Academy runner and secured first place for Andover Boys Track with a time of 4.54.05. The points from the first place finish proved to be crucial as Andover went on to win by just two points 59-57-6 over Wilbraham on Wednesday. The win pushed the Boys to a 2-0 record, while the Girls placed first over Wilbraham and Governor’s to improve its record to 1-1.

For the boys, Gorton also had success in the two-mile race, finishing in second place behind Ralph Skinner ’16. Skinner, who held the lead throughout the entirety of the race, finished with a time of 10:59.

The victories achieved in the long distance races were mirrored in the short distance events as well. Ian Jackson ’16 clinched first place in the 50-yard dash again with a time of 6.03 seconds, just shy of his personal record of 6.02.

“My favorite thing about the 50-yard dash is that it’s quick, and you give [it all] you’ve got for just a short amount of time,” said Jackson.

One of the most impressive events for the team was the 1000-yard dash. Between Nathan Goldthwaite ’18, Noah Belser ’16, Brian Paul Robert ’16 and John Wu ’17, Andover swept the top four spots and earned 11 points.

Andover Girls Track earned a comfortable 57-44-20 victory over both Wilbraham and Governor’s after coming in second place to Governor’s last meet.

Grace Rademacher ’18 once again claimed the one-mile race with a time of 5.30. Rademacher finished 23 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor. She has been Andover Girls Track’s most dominant distance runner this season along with Anoush Shehadeh ’15. Shehadeh placed first in the two-mile race with a time of 11.54.51.

Rademacher wrote in an email to The Phillipian, “There is so much support from everyone when you are racing, especially races that are ten plus laps. The atmosphere in the cage during a meet is always so exciting because of the encouragement from your teammates. We lost to Governor’s last time we raced them, so beating them this time was pretty exciting.”

Just as she did in Andover’s last meet against Wilbraham and Governer’s, Camille Little ’16 took first place in the 50­ and 300-­yard dashes with times of 6.57 and 41.2 seconds, respectively.

Captain Charlie Jarvis ’15, Kinsey Yost ’15, Meghan Tao ’15 and Deyana Marsh ’17 ran the 4×400 race and came in second with a time of 4.36.44.

In the field events, Sidney Holder ’17 snatched second place in the long jump. Holder set a personal record for herself with a distance of 16’1”.

In the shot put, Alexis Leftt ’16 claimed first place with a throw of 28’5”.

The team performed well across the board. Jarvis wrote in an email to The Phillipian, “We came in to the meet with a lot more confidence. We had some amazing performances, especially by some underclassmen who are beginning to find their stride. Our win at this meet just serves to prove how much depth and strength we have as a team this year.”

The team will face Wilbraham and Andover High School next Wednesday with hopes to continue its winning streak.