Week #33 - Boys High Jump and Girls 4x100 Highlight Historic Day at Woodberry Forest Invite!

Varsity Track and Field - While I always hoped I'd grow to be 6' tall, I never quite made it to that vantage point. Instead, I stand squarely at 5'9". It's a decent height - I can see over most people at concerts, I often stand in the second row during group photos and people rarely jump over me. I had not thought much about that third statement, not until I watched Kemaan make his High Jump debut this evening. With perfect footwork, he increased his stride length and power before scissor-kicking his way to 5'4" - the VISAA State Qualifying standard. As the officials continued to raise the bar, Kemaan took on the challenge -  eventually clearing 5'6" with ease, and 5'8", and eventually 5'10".  This is extraordinary for four reasons:
 
1. He won.
2. It's the Tandem School Record.
3. It's Kemaan's new very impressive Personal Record.
4. It proves that now, at any time, Kemaan can jump over me. I'll be on high alert.
 
The Tandem Track and Field Badgers repeatedly made history this afternoon - setting school records, personal records, qualifying for VISAA State Championships and earning podium finishes! Both the Boys and Girls finished in the top 3 overall, defeating much larger schools!
After working extensively on their baton passes throughout the week, the Girls 4x100 Meter Relay lined up in lane 3! For each of the last two seasons, Maeve has worked on her start, and she was incredible right from the start! Taking a big lead over Chatham Hall, Maeve set up Aoife for an incredible spurt on the back stretch! Aoife's Track and Field debut was worth the wait - she bolted ahead of her competition, making a perfect pass to Emory, who extended her stride as she rounded the curve. After the baton got to Ana, well, she was on her way to making history! This epic Girls 4x100 team finished in a blazing time of 1:01.04 - a Tandem record - and you'll be seeing their names on the wall in the field house!  
 
In the Discus Circle, a Badger thrower earned a school record for the second consecutive week! Last week, it was Tyler, who tossed the disc over 71' feet today! This week, Levie added to his total, earning a new PR and school record of 77'7"! Congratulations, Levie! This duo also had a successful day with the Shot Put - Levie at 32'9" and Tyler 27'1"! Ana (also the current discus school record holder), also threw the disc 41'8"!
 
With a lap to go in the 800, Lucy was biding her time in second place. She ran a 1:19 first lap, and I shouted at her to go around her opponent from Covenant. As engaged as they come, Lucy did that - and by the time it was over - Lucy had won the race by so much that most spectators forgot that the opponent was there at all. She finished with a new PR and school record of 2:39!
 
With the entire Tandem team screaming at full throttle, Peter D cleared the final hurdle in the 300 Meter Hurdles, crossed the line and waited to see his time. When 48.54 appeared on the screen, he (and his enthusiastic teammates) knew that Peter had earned an invitation to Randolph College for VISAA States! He did a somersault to celebrate! (And then ran the 3200 - what a double!)
 
In the sprint events, Maeve continues to be elite! In addition to serving as the lead leg of the aforementioned school record holding 4x100 Girls Relay team, she also earned a new PR this afternoon in the 100 meters - her time of 15.7 marks the first time Maeve has finished under 16 seconds, a PR of .4 seconds! Later on, in the 200, Maeve nearly matched her PR in a time of 33.3! It was also very exciting to see the debut performances of Claire D (35.1) and Aoife - who ran a crazy fast 29.3, finishing 3rd in a highly competitive heat! Welcome to the track, Claire D and Aoife!
 
On the boys side, our sprinters have been incredibly consistent! Nari (12.1), Keeman (12.1), Tre'Sean (12.7) and Henry (14.8) all came out of the blocks quick, challenging a very deep field! Nari (2nd in his heat) and Tre'Sean would later earn PR's in the 200 (25.01 and 26.40 respectively!). Kemaan ran 25.4 while Eli finished second in his heat in a blazing 26.33 - an incredible effort! The squad of Ian, Tre'Sean, Nari and Kemaan also combined for a 47.24 4x100 Meter Relay! Gabriel, rounding out the sprint performances, earned a time of 55.5 in the 400!
 
As always, our distance crew was electric. Miles dropped a FULL TEN SECONDS off his PR, winning the mile easily in 4:46! Sheesh! Peter W finished second in the 1600 in 4:55 - establishing himself as a consistent sub 5:00 miler! Ethan's 5:39 was a 4 second PR, flying in the heat, while Alexander came through at 6:15! On the girls side, Avery's 7:07 is a three second PR, while Dhruvi (7:41) and Leelee (7:56) both broke 8:00! Eve ran her first ever mile in 8:31! The Badgers were also dominant in the 800 - Miles finished second in 2:10, Van matched his PR in 2:32, and Zeke ran a new PR of 2:44! Lucy had the epic victory mentioned above, and Victoria competed - truly competed - as hard as she ever has - running a new PR of 3:39. Reflect on your accomplishments, Victoria!

Later, in the challenging 3200 Meter Run, Claire broke 14:00 in 13:56 (with two super fast last laps), while Brendan (11:12), Jack J (11:32) and Peter D (12:12) all worked closely together. The action on the track concluded with an exciting 4x400 Relay! Gabriel got the action started with a speedy 54, setting the stage for Peter W, Nari (who was awesome - and will definitely become a staple of this event!), and Miles (not tired after his 16/800 double) and the team finished in 3:49, easily beating host Woodberry Forest and taking gold! That's a VISAA State Qualifying time! Eve (1:17!), Dhurvi, Leelee and Aoife gave it one more lap each for the girls - and we learned a lot about their speed! Aoife (1:13) is only a 9th Grader - and this team took home gold in a time of 5:21!
 
Congratulations to all Track and Field Badgers on a historic day at Woodberry Forest this afternoon! School Records, Personal Records, VISAA State Qualifers and debut performances made this event special! Major thanks to Coach Melissa, who has put in a lot of time with the speed power athletes! What a fun day! Also, good luck to Hayes/Jack B at the Carolina Distance Carnival!  
 
The Badgers are back in action next Saturday at the VTCA Invitational! See you there!
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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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