Varsity Track Sets School Records At Black Bear Invitational
Courtesy of @exeterathletics
By ISABEL EVANS, LOGAN LIU, MARVIN SHIM, and HANNAH WEI
On Saturday, April 27, the Exeter varsity track and field team drove out to CoeBrown Northwood Academy in New Hampshire to compete in the Black Bear Invitational. The Black Bear Invitational is a highly competitive outdoor track meet with only four athletes allowed per event from Exeter. The meet was large, with most events accepting up to 55 entries with multiple heats.
The Black Bear Invitational was the culmination of six weeks of hard work for the outdoor track team. Senior Tenley Nelson said, “We’ve been training as a team for about six full weeks now, and I feel that we’ve really hit our stride recently. We’ve all been working hard before and after practice, in the weight room, et cetera. I think everyone who attended Black Bear was ready to put that to use and participate in the really competitive atmosphere.”
This meet was very exhilarating for the members of the team, but they supported each other throughout their races. Nelson said, “This was one of the biggest meets we go to in the outdoor season, so there was definitely a very excited and supportive atmosphere. Everyone was ready to race well, and that competitive mindset really came through.”
The team did pull through, with many students setting school records. Senior Byron Grevious set a meet record in the 3200m, with a time of 8:56.5, before teaming up with seniors Austin Desisto and Max Lacombe, and upper Pearce Covert, to set a meet record in the 4x800 with a time of 8:06.19. Uppers Sam Benochi, Tate Kelly, Steph Handte, and Gianna Phipps won the girls’ 4x400 and uppers Jannah Maguire, Melani Dowling, and Nelson, and lower Ashley Ting, won the girls’ 4x800. Nelson also won the 800m.
For some, it was their first race at this track, leading to a lot of nervous and anticipatory energy. Nelson said, “At such a big meet, it’s really helpful to look around and see familiar faces. I think that we all did a great job of supporting each other and cheering our teammates on, which made the whole experience really fun!”
Both boys’ and girls’ track and field are looking forward to a competitive month. Their next meet is a double against Northfield Mount Hermon and Deerfield, followed by Interschols, then E>a. They will close the season out at the Nike Outdoor Nationals, a highly competitive invitational at the University of Oregon.
Nelson shared, “As a team, we’re just going to keep working hard and set our sights on the next big races we have coming up, Interschols and our E/A competition in two weeks or so. Hopefully we will continue to get stronger, both individually and as a group.” The team will continue to work hard, looking forward to maintaining the same energy in every race going forward, trying to improve as a group and set more records— and generally give an impressive performance all around.
