February 9-10, were the first regular season meets of the 2024 track and field season, and our team delivered.
On Friday, the distance runners left school early and traveled to the Annual Parkview Distance Kickoff in Lilburn. Overall, there were 25 personal records and 10 brand new runners. Three runners achieved MileSplit US Second Team standards.
Many individual runners had amazing events and times. On the girls team, Ruby Little ran the 3200 m in 10:29, the 11th fastest time in Georgia history and a meet record. Similarly, Caroline Rogers ran the 3200 in 11:22, the 4th best time by a freshman in school history.
Cossette Lane and Maggie Seaver finished their race 0.06 seconds apart, both setting personal records. Ella Hanemann and Morgan Waddell ran 3rd and 5th ranked middle school girls 1600 run in 5:31.81 and 5:47.71, respectively.
The boys’ distance team also performed well. Liam Hanemann ran the 1600 in 4:16, a personal record. Ian Gaffney ran the 1600 in 4:23, another personal record. In the 3200, Kyle Klinges and Musse Woldu finished 1 second apart, both going sub-10:10 for the first time. Warren Patterson improved his personal record by 1:06, from a 7:01 to a 5:59.
The next day, the rest of the track & field team traveled to the Hawthorne Wesley Invitational. Nine new personal record were set across sprints, jumps, and pole vault, and this was their first meet for six different runners.
Twelve different athletes finished in the top 8, scoring points for the War Eagles. Nicole Barrios claimed 3rd and 6th in the 800 and 1600, and Handley Greeley finished 5th in the 300 hurdles, running a 51.28. In triple jump, Piper Gotch and Della Canale placed 4th and 5th, respectively.
In dominant fashion, Ansley Cho, Mia Perea Berdiel, and Rachel Walker took 1st, 3rd, and 5th, jumping 11′, 10′, and 8’6″, respectively, in the pole vault.
For the boys, Robert McNeil ran an intense race and placed 6th in the 800 while Marshall Grisik pulled out a strong jump to place 3rd in the triple jump, jumping 40’11”. Jonah Peterson, Jake Slovensky, and Jack Guhl similarly crushed the boys pole vault, placing 2nd, 4th, and 5th, respectively. Jonah Peterson vaulted 12’6″.
Overall, track and field crushed the competition in their first meets of the regular season. Coach Matt McMurray had nothing but good things to say. “The team was full of displays of heart and determination” and “all the hard work put in this offseason was rewarded,” McMurray said.
Good luck to all the athletes that will compete throughout the season. Hopefully, the future holds many dominant performances.