Track Stars Shine at the Harvard Invitational

This week, the winter track team had the chance to travel to Harvard University and compete alongside runners of many different levels, abilities and backgrounds. From traditional high school level runners, to master class athletes, every level of experience was represented at the meet this past Sunday.Although this was a more difficult meet than many of the Exeter runners were used to, they welcomed the change. “The team knew that the competition would be at a higher level than a regular high school meet and they were excited for the challenge,” Coach Toyin Augustus-Ikwuakor said.“I think for one of the first collegiate meets we’ve had, this was a really good start.” upper Mason Polk said. “The team had a lot of best times and personal records. We started out strong, and it was a good basis to improve on as we go through some more collegiate level meets.”Several runners stood out this weekend, namely upper Marcus Polk and senior and captain John Kennealy. “It was a long day, but we had great performances everywhere,” Toyin said. “John Kennealy's time of 51.99 in the 400 meter dash is an excellent start, possibly the fastest in our league so far this year. Marcus Polk won the scholastic 60-meter Hurdles in a personal best time of 8.58 sec. We will have to check the record books and see how far he is from a school record because he is well on his way.”

The meet was a great experience for the team as a whole, as it allowed them to participate at a heightened level of competition, as well as serving as a learning opportunity for the lowerclassmen and the less experienced runners. “I think our team dynamic is really positive. Since we have a bigger squad, I’ve seen a lot of upperclassmen helping the younger kids with their form, since sometimes the coaches can’t help everyone,” Polk said. “That’s been really encouraging to see, and I hope that kind of thing continues.”This meet also afforded the runners a chance to use the great facilities at Harvard, particularly their timing system. “At this meet we enjoyed the luxury of fully automatic timing, not subject to human error of hand timing with a stopwatch. This allows us to better compare our times with that of other schools to see how our runners compare,” Toyin said.The season so far has had a promising start, and the team hopes to continue on that path. “I think that what we’ve seen from the team so far has shown a lot of potential, and I think that we can only get better from here, and as the season progresses, we’ll grow more, both as a team and as individuals,” Polk said of the remainder of the season.“We are still training hard and plan to continue improving in preparation for E/A this winter, and of course to defend our Interschools titles during the outdoor season in the spring,” Toyin said.