This weekend, the GHS Track and Field team competed at the Division 2 State Relay Championship. This meet was strictly relay events from all the Division 2 schools in Massachusetts. The girls team placed 11th overall and the boys team placed 9th overall as they broke a school record. 

For the boys, GHS participated in the 4x1600m, 4x100m, 4x200m, the DMR (Distance Medley Relay), and the triple jump relay. In the 4x1600m, Max Littman, Anthony Rodriguez, Eli Heanue, and Owen Hardy ran a collective time of 20:14, with everyone getting a seasonal best time in the mile: 5:07, 5:02, 4:57, 5:07, respectively. This relay took 5th place overall, earning the team 2 points. In the triple jump relay, the boys placed 2nd overall with Heanue, Andrew Coelho, and Kayky Barbosa. Heanue had the fourth best jump overall with a 39’2.25’’, Coelho had the fifth best jump with 37’8.75’’, and Barbosa had the 12th best overall jump with 34’11.5’’. This second overall place finish earned the team 8 points. 

In the DMR, GHS took first overall with an outdoor school record time of 11:01.90. Nick Poulin ran the 1200m with a time of 3:33.8, James Wendell in the 400m (52.5), Andrew Coelho in the 800m (2:09.0), and Will Kenney in the mile (4:26.4). Breaking last year’s previous school record of 11:05, the first place finish earned them 10 points. 

On the girls side they competed in the Sprint Medley Relay, the 4×200, and the 4×400 relay. The SMR consists of two 200m legs, a 400m leg, and an 800m leg. The SMR team consisting of Jenna Smith, Rumi Thomas, Darcy Muller, and Caelie Patrick ran a time of 4:32.03, placing 2nd overall. Smith and Thomas were the 200m legs running a 29.8 split and a 30.4 split, respectively. Muller ran an impressive 62.5 leg in the 400m and the freshman Caelie Patrick, closed in a very quick 2:29 800m split. This 2nd place finish earned the girls 8 points, securing an 11th place team overall finish.  

“At the Division II State Relays this past weekend our boys and girls competed against the best teams in the division and found success in several events,” said head coach David Coleman. “The stand out race being the boys distance medley relay who placed first, setting a new school record. We had many other good performances, despite the cold, rainy day.” He was very pleased with the team’s performance as he said, “As a coaching staff we are very happy with the commitment and effort level we got from the team.”

The GHS Track team’s next meet is against Beverly in an NEC crossover meet on Wednesday at 4:00 at Newell Stadium. The boys and the girls team are both chasing an NEC South title with undefeated seasons and will be going up against some strong NEC North competition.