Winter Track Wins Home Opener
The Big Red varsity track teams won big at the first meet of the season. Last Saturday, athletes participated in the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association’s annual meet, competing with a number of teams from New Hampshire. Big Red beat out Merrimack, Dover and Salem High Schools, able challengers from across the state for an exciting start to the season.
The boys’ team dragged out a 16-point lead over second-place finisher Merrimack High School and a 36-point lead over the third-place Salem High School. The girls’ team also proved their skills on the track and had a successful finish. Big Red scored over twice as many points as Merrimack, the runner-up, and led Dover, in third place, by a wide margin as well.
With its sweep, Big Red set the tone for the rest of the season. “This past meet looked very strong for all of us,” lower Ifeoma Ajufo said. “I anticipate a season of personal bests and even some more school records.”
The team faced some adversity going in. “We have only had a week of training since we returned from the fall break. Many of our newer athletes are still getting used to the team and the training,” coach Toyin Augustus said. “In addition, we had several athletes who did not compete, and they were tasked with cheering on their teammates while helping with the meet.”
Still, the team defied the odds. “Though there weren’t any huge expectations going into this meet timewise or distance-wise, I was honestly blown away by everyone’s performances,” Captain Emy Li said. Li felt that the team’s performance was a testament to its skill, something she hopes to elevate in the coming weeks.
Senior Noel Gomez shouted out his teammates on their stellar performances, particularly on the 4 x 200-meter relay. “One highlight from the meet was the speedy relay by [seniors] Michael Singer, David Gonzalez and Samuel Chang and [upper] Louis Mukama. That was one for the books,” he said.
Augustus further highlighted the performances of upper Cristian Molina and prep Max Li. “They stood out to me because they are relatively new to our team and showed maturity and high potential,” she said. “They ran with guts and heart, and I’m always proud of that kind of performance!”
Gomez looked forward to the team’s continued growth, and described his hopes for reaching his individual goals. “After this first meet, I can tell that I have a lot of room for improvement,” he said. “I had some good runs, but I have some ways to go to up my performance to where it was last year.” He is confident that he will match that performance, in which he ran some of his best times.
Li expressed her optimism in the coming term.“With not only some great performances right off the bat, but also all the determination and hype everyone brought to the meet, I’m just excited to see where that takes us,” she said. The teams hope to capitalize on their wins to propel them through a great winter term.