Varsity Track Competes in GBTC Invitational at Harvard
By LOGAN LIU, ISHAAN SINGH, and HENRY WISE
On Sunday, Jan. 21, the Exeter boys varsity track team traveled to Harvard University to compete in the Greater Boston Track Club (GBTC) Invitational meet. The meet was a great success for the team, with many athletes setting personal records and upper Jaylen Bennett beating the school record in the 600m with a time of 1 minute and 22 seconds. The team had many highlights throughout the meet, and still has many goals and ideas to work towards for the rest of the winter season.
In preparation for the meet, the team spent the week training hard. Lower Ethan Benenson said, “Most of the team hit a 50-mile week, which is the most I’ve ever done. One day we ran 11 miles and then ran hills the day after.”
Although the whole team had a great performance, there was one that stood out in particular. Lower Owen Welch said, “I thought Jaylen’s performance was incredible. Running a time like that this early on puts him in an excellent position for the rest of the season, and I think he could break 1:20.”
Prep Owen Cosgrove was not surprised by Bennett’s stellar performance. “I mean, 1:21 is a great time…but there was no surprise there. Jaylen is one of the best in the country. He got U.S. number 6, and he’s only an upper,” he said.
Aside from Bennett, there were some fantastic runs, including senior Jack Hutchins in the mile, with a time of 4 minutes and 26 seconds. “Jack Hutchins ran a very memorable and gutsy race, and it was nice to see all the work he puts in really come through,” Welch commented on Hutchins’ performance.
Hutchins himself said, “I was racing for the first time in the season, so I just wanted to get a good effort in to see what place I was in.”
Despite the successes at the meet, the team is still looking to improve. They also have many goals going into the rest of the season.“We’ll keep plugging away and practicing hard, with more emphasis on speed and turnover in upcoming workouts,” said Welch. “I know a lot of guys who have already put up national qualifying times or are hoping to. That’s the endgame for the track season, as well as beating Andover.”
Cosgrove said, “Everyone is working really hard…we have a lot of national qualifiers, so people are achieving a lot of these goals…everyone just wants to improve [and] have a good time. It’s a great team.”
The coaches are putting in hard work too, managing many different skill groups in order to give their runners the expertise they need. The top runners on the team are preparing for the Boston University Terrier Classic, and the preps and lowers look forward to leaving it all out on the track in Andover’s away meet.
