By Emily Young
The Barons headed to Georgetown Prep this past Saturday for the 40th annual Woodward Relays. The meet, which originated at the no-longer-in-existence Woodward High School, has changed venues numerous times; however, one thing that hasn’t changed is the high level of competition. While the Barons were unable to walk away from the day with any victories, they did tally a couple of second place finishes and a number of season-best performances.
Early in the day, the girls’ 4 x 800 team stepped to the line without their fastest runner, Junior Brittney Wade. Still confident that they could compete with the best, the girls were determined to run for the win. Sophomore Helen Webster (2:21) led off with a blazing first leg and handed the baton to Junior Laura Nakasaka (2:25) in 3rd place. Nakasaka calmly and confidently moved into second place, gained a lot of ground on the leaders, CH Flowers, and made it a two-team race. Nakasaka handed off the baton to Junior Caroline Leuba (2:28) who took a page from the Caroline Beakes’ playbook and sat behind her competitor, waiting until just the right moment to make a move. With about 200m to go, Leuba moved into the lead and opened up a gap on the CH Flowers runner. Senior Ava Farrell (2:23), B-CC’s anchor, tried to maintain the lead but was quickly overtaken by her competitor. Though Farrell managed to almost catch her in the last few meters of the race, it was too little too late, and she was out-leaned at the line. The girls finished second in 9:40.28. CH Flowers won the race in 9:40.26.
The second runner-up performance of the day came from the girls’ 4 x 1600 meter relay team of Webster (5:39), Beakes (5:29), Nakasaka (5:42), and Farrell (5:28). The girls put forth a solid effort and ran a respectable time, but they were unable to keep pace with the Whitman girls who finished the race in meet-record time.
Another strong event for both the boys and the girls was the Sprint Medley Relay (SMR), a 400-200-200-800 relay. Nolan Ebner (400—54.64), Weyimini Dorsu (200—22.98), Max Braganza (200—25.36), and Peter Horton (800—2:03), raced their way to an impressive 5th place finish out of 25 teams.
For the girls, Caroline Leuba (400—65), Shayna Nash (200—28.2), Sisan Dorsu (200—30), and Hallie Jester (800—2:29) earned a 6th place finish in the event. They competed against 24 other teams.
The Barons also finished the day with a number of season-best performances. The boys’ 4 x 800 relay ran their fastest time so far this year thanks to particularly impressive legs by Sophomores Peter Horton and Nolan Ebner. They teamed with team of Junior Nick McGrievy (2:10) and Senior Thomas Horton (2:10) to run a total time of 8:28.
In the field events, Senior Luidgi Morton jumped 17’ 3/4'”, his farthest long jump this year. Freshmen Liam McGowan and Kyle Nakasaka, two newcomers to the triple jump this year, stepped up to complete the triple jump relay for the Barons and jumped personal bests in the process.
Also recording their top marks of the year in the throws were Senior Ruth Orevba and Junior Anthony Royster. Orevba threw 27’3” in the shot put, and Royster sent the discus flying 83’ 10.5”. The mark was also a personal record for Royster, who is showing a great deal of potential in his first year as a thrower.
The Barons are back in action on Tuesday for their last divisional meet at Wootton. They will also compete this Saturday at Whitman’s Viking Relays.
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