Spring Track & Field

Girls Track Dominates with Strong Finishes at Annual Hunt Relays

Andover Girls Track & Field dominated both the 4×100-Meter and 4×200-Meter winning the events with times of 50.45 seconds and 1:48.65 minutes. Andover’s relay team consisted of Victoria Kadiri ’20, Captain Deyana Marsh ’17, Sidney Holder ’17 and Fredericka Lucas ’18 for these events. The two sprinting relays mirrored Andover’s dominance at the 57th annual Hunt Relays at Deerfield this past Saturday, Andover earned seven relay victories at the unscored meet.

Madison Bourassa ’20, Melanie Cheung ’20, Alycia Basquiat ’20, and Rachel Chang ’20 earned a victory with a time of 2:02.31 minutes in the Junior 4×200-Meter relay.

In the 155-Meter Shuttle Low Hurdle Relay, comprised of Marsh, Ava Stills ’19 and Georgia Ezell ’19, won with a time of 26.28 seconds.

Ezell wrote in an email to The Phillipian, “The strong sense of camaraderie and spirit at this meet allowed the members of our team to win ribbons in almost every event.”

In the distance events, Andover placed second in both relays. Michaela Jones ’18, Krystiana Swain ’18, Isabella Morzano ’18, and Post-Graduate (PG) Samantha Valentine ’17 were all a part of the Distance Medley Relay (DMR) team. The Distance Medley consisted of a 1200-Meter, 400-Meter, 800-Meter, and 1600-Meter leg. As the race progressed, the team trailed Phillips Exeter Academy by 200 meters until Valentine’s 4:58 split closed the gap to less than four seconds. Andover finished the relay with a time of 12:19.43 minutes. Despite losing to its archrival, the team’s time was eleven seconds faster than the previous meet record.

Swain wrote in an email to The Phillipian, “Everyone was so supportive of each other, as I expected from an all-relay meet, and willing to do what was needed for the success for the team. For example, I forgot my spikes for the meet, and in the girls’ 4×400 relay, the first leg ripped off her spikes right after crossing the finish, handed them to me, and I got them on just in time to run the fourth leg. I thought that was kinda awesome.”

In the 4×800-Meter relay, Alisa Crueger-Cain ’20, Morzano, Jones, and Valentine posted a time of 9:57.54 minutes, securing second place for Andover.

Andover earned another victory in the Junior DMR with a team of Neena Goldthwaite ’20, Bourassa, Tessa Conrardy ’20, and Crueger-Cain, posting a time of 14:09.42 minutes.

In the Javelin Relay, PG Margot Forti ’17, Makenna Marshall ’18, and Serena Liu ’19 won the event by a large margin, beating the other teams by over 60 feet. Forti, Andover’s leading thrower rocketed a 106’ 06” throw.

Andover finished second in both the High Jump and Long Jump competitions. Lucas, Conrady, and Sophie Smith ’17 competed in the High Jump Relay while Holder, Bourassa and Cheung competed in the Long Jump relay.

A standout performer, Lucas jumped 5’ 2”, breaking her own personal record while also defeating the 2016 NEPSTA High Jump Champion, Northfield Mount Hermon’s Ariya Smalls. In the Long Jump, Holder leaped a distance of 17’ 00.25”, placing second of the 27 competitors.

Holder wrote in an email to The Phillipian, “We had teammates cheering on people from different events and that’s always exhilarating.”

Lucas said, “Hunt Relays is unique since every event is a team event, so we were really able to demonstrate our team spirit by working with and supporting each other.”

On May 3rd, Andover will host St. Paul’s, Governor’s, and Exeter in its first meet back from a 10 day break.