Track Team Spirit Reborn for the Final Meet of the Year
After a stunning victory at Interschols for Exeter track and field, the following Saturday’s meet against Andover seemed minor; but that did not stop Big Red from giving all they had and trouncing Andover in a 112-16 landslide for the boys and a narrow 69-62 triumph for the girls—a perfect finish to their incredible season.
“This was a great performance for the team; we were able to use our depth and the work we have put in to our advantage this week,” upper Holden Hammontree said. “It was not the most electric or outstanding day of the season, but we won because we were the better team. We just had superior depth, better preparation and the team went out there with goal one goal in mind: to win.”
His teammates shared a similar outlook on the final competition.
“The meet went very well. The boys won by 100 points to cap off an amazing season. The girls also pulled off a close win even though it's a young team,” upper Talla Babou said. “The boys are now undefeated in two years and the girls have beaten Andover three years in a row.”
Even though Big Red did not have their best performance, the team still carried out the victory with near flawless skill.
“When it comes to weakness, I cannot really see any,” upper Randal Hernandez said. “Our track team ‘ran deep’ with not just talent but also hardwork and dedication to improvement.”
Athletes still found areas in which Exeter could improve their execution for future events.
“In some of our individual races we were still caught in the Interschols mindset, which takes on an individualistic manner because at Interschols you do not really have teammates around you,” Hammontree said. “But at E/A you are surrounded by teammates, and it is important to draw on them for support. Even though we still did a good job, we did not do that as well as use our teammates for help as well as we could have.”
Hoping to extend Big Red’s dominating streak the next year, the team has begun addressing any issues that could potentially pose a threat to next season’s success.
“The team can improve further by continuing to train over the summer and fall,” senior TJ Hodges said. “For distance runners, this is pretty easy since cross country competes in the fall. For sprinters and throwers, it is important to keep active in the off season. I would be pretty scared to race next year’s team. Our 4x400 relay team missed the school record by only .4 seconds at E/A this year, and three of the four guys are uppers.”
Lower Chad Lynn noted similar hopes for other returning team members.
“Few really good people are leaving, but it will be exciting to see the lower classmen with potential stepping up,” Lynn said. “Chudi Ikpeazu, a lower, is one of our best throwers right now and hall of famed as a lower, so he might be able to break school records by senior year.”
Babou added, “Even though we are graduating some key runners, the future looks bright as we have a good number of varsity runners returning, so we hope to continue in our success.”