RUNNERS TAKE YOUR MARKS……SET……POP! I explode from my starting blocks at the crack of the pistol, counting my steps as I lurch forward. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7…hop. By the height of a paper clip, I clear the first 39″ hurdle and whip my trail leg over the bar—eyeing the finish line 97m away. As my right foot hits the ground, I break into a three-step sprint before reaching the next hurdle and repeating my hop-sprint pattern. Eight more hurdles later, I cross the finish line with an ambitious lean forward. Stopwatch in hand, Coach yells, “16 flat!” I jog off the track—flashing a grin to my friends—and begin preparing for my next race.
This spring was the first time since March 7th of 2020 (when boys varsity hockey lost in the playoffs) that I have competed athletically for Groton, and after a seventh to eleventh grade hiatus, I decided to return to my track and field roots. With the encouragement of Coach Lamoreaux and my father, I elected to run the 110m and 300m hurdles alongside my favorite event, the 400m.
In all, we had two meets and one time trial outing. The first competition was held at Governor’s Academy, where I got lucky and ended up winning my running events. I also took second in the javelin behind the legend himself, Chris Kadiri ’22, who has a cannon for an arm. As a team, we had an outstanding afternoon. We won almost every event, which is pretty impressive considering that we don’t yet have an on-campus track.
Milton hosted our second meet. Instead of javelin, I ran with our 4x400m relay team, which absolutely destroyed my lungs; my respect for those who sprint the 400m and 4x400m in the same meet is now bottomless, haha. That being said, I secured gold for the team in the hurdles races but ran out of gasoline in my individual 400m heat. Shout-out to Aidan O’Connell ’23, who completely left me in the dust.
We held our time trial event last Saturday at the Groton Middle School track, which concluded our season. I threw 144′ in the javelin, which was an exciting first for me, and finished my 400m lap in just under 53 seconds. However, my time was only good enough for second, behind the speedster Andrew Johnson ’22. That kid can fly!
Before hopping on the bus back to Groton, we celebrated as a team with popsicles and pop music. To the coaches, athletes, training staff, and everyone else who helped facilitate our T&F season, thank you! Competing in the maroon one final time meant the world to me.