Week #31 - Superior to the Circumstance: Badgers Win at Woodberry in a Deluge!

Varsity Track and Field - The tent provided little refuge: thirty mile an hour cross-winds made avoiding the freezing rain an impossible task. As the minutes went by and the deluge continued, several teams made the decision to pack up their belongings and leave. They missed some seriously impressive Track and Field action: since they left long before Jack Blemker (who also won the 3200) crossed the line to anchor an incredible race for the victorious Tandem Boys 4x400 team in what can only be described as awful running conditions. The Boys 4x400 was only .3 seconds off the VISAA qualifying time! Reflecting on the wet and cold experience, Coach Ned quoted Bruce Barton and shared with the team: "nothing splendid has ever been achieved except for by those who dared to believe that something inside them was superior to the circumstance."  
 
The Badgers opened their Track and Field season with a big time win - defeating much larger schools including Woodberry, Blue Ridge, Collegiate, Madison and Trinity - and were, as always, truly superior to the circumstance. The action began in the throwing circle, where Levie tossed a soggy shot put through the rain 30' 9.5"! His throw is an improvement of over FIVE feet from his toss in 2025 - Levie added a ton of muscle over the summer! Tyler had a strong day in the circle as well: he threw 27'5", and also 56'5" in the discus - while Levie tossed the disc 60'9"!
 
On the track, Maeve dazzled the competition - leading the way for the Tandem Girls sprint squad! Maeve won her heat in BOTH the 100 and 200 meters - 16.8 and 34.6! In the 400 meters, both Dhruvi and Victoria earned PR's in the 400 (1:21.5 and 1:34 respectively!). 
 
Despite the cold conditions, Nari led the Tandem Boys sprinters out to a hot start - he flew down the track, running 12.52, nearly matching his PR. Due to an issue with the timing system, our boys 100 meter runners had to compete twice - and Keeman (12.58) made it worth the wait! Tre'Sean flew through the line in his debut of 12.97 while Henry broke 15 in 14.97! We are fired up to have this deep and talented group of sprinters this season! Later in the meet, after his 300 Meter Hurdle performance, Eli earned a medal in his second event of the day - 2nd place in the 200 meters in 28.52! 
 
Gabriel picked up right where he left off last season in the 400 meters - he earned second place in a competitive field! His time of 55.7 would be electric in any conditions, but today was wet and super cold - the opposite of ideal sprint weather. Despite that, Gabriel continued the incredible leadership he has shown in practice, making sure the squad was ready to compete! Asher was close behind in 57.1, while Sean achieved a new PR of 1:13!
 
In the 4x800, Van got the team into a strong position, running a 2:37 first leg! Nico took the baton next, his 2:55 keeping the Badgers close to a strong Fork Union team. Ethan, making his Outdoor Varsity Track and Field debut, meant business. He grabbed that baton and went stride for stride with his competition, running a very strong 2:37, and setting up Alexander (2:34 with a big kick!) and a powerful finish! The team finished in a very solid 10:44!
 
Eli made an amazing debut in the 300 Meter Hurdles, dominating the race in a new PR of 50.9, while Peter D (51.3 - a full second faster than last season - was hot on his tail! The Badgers earned first and second place in the 300 Meter Hurdles event - and those 18 points were critical to the Tandem victory today!
 
Only a few weeks removed from his trip to New Balance Indoor Nationals in Boston, Hayes easily won the mile in a time of 4:37. Hayes, Peter W (4:55.7) and Miles (4:56.23) all qualified for the VISAA State Championships in May - Miles hit the exact qualifying time on the nose! For Peter W, his performance is a ten second PR and his first time under 5:00 - welcome to the club! On the girls side, Lucy's 6:04 is a two second PR - she had an amazing indoor season and is poised to improve dramatically this spring! 
 
The Badgers also dominated the 800 - Hayes won the race in 2:07, his second of three victories on the day! Van earned a new PR in the 800 - he made his debut in the event in 2:52! Speaking of debuts, the Girls 800 Meter included an incredible performance by Emory (3:07) running her first ever Track and Field race and showing off great closing speed! She competed closely with Avery (3:06), Leelee (3:10) and Eve (3:22) - who have been working incredibly hard in practice! For Avery, this is a TWENTY FOUR SECOND PR! Well done!
 
By the time we got to the 3200 Meters, every single athlete, coach, official and spectator was completely soaked - but that didn't stop Jack Blemker from winning the race and qualifying for VISAA State Championships in a PR time of 10:26! Brendan's 11:04 was also an incredible effort, and a PR, and he ran closely with Jack Johnson (11:10!) while Peter D came through at 6:00 pace on the dot - 12:01 - and he will crush 12:00 in better conditions in the future! On the girls side, Claire's 14:19 - with consistent pacing - showed incredible distance running IQ! Well done, Claire!
 
As the Boys 4x400 went for gold, the entire team ran back and forth across the track, screaming at the top of their lungs and providing extraordinary support to their teammates... despite the fact that we were four hours into an exhausting, cold, deluge of a day. The team broke 4:00 easily, as the team of Gabriel, Hayes, Asher and Jack Blemker defeated Collegiate to win the final race of the day! That's the kind of spirit that makes Tandem Track and Field a magical team to be a part of!
 
Tandem won the Woodberry Invitational today, in more ways than one. The Badgers scored more points than any other team - Hayes and Jack each won three events, and Eli medaled in two! More importantly, the Badgers showed incredible toughness and grit - continuing to compete - and doing so with determination and class - despite absolutely horrid running conditions. This will benefit the team as we make our way through what is clearly going to be an incredibly successful season!
 
Thank you my incredible fellow coaches - Jason, Melissa, Ned - what a day we had in the freezing cold! Someday we'll talk about that crazy meet at Woodberry - the one where the timing system went offline and it rained the whole time - and teams left randomly throughout the meet!! 
 
And of course, thanks to our Tandem crowd - families and friends set up shop and watched the ENTIRE meet - in the wet and cold - honestly, three cheers to you! Thank you!
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Tandem Friends School is a co-ed Quaker day school for grades 5-12 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
 
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