Week #34 - She's So Cool: Tandem Girls Relays Highlight Massive Day for Badgers at VCTA!

Varsity Track and Field - It was an incredible day at the VTCA Championships for this extraordinary Tandem Badger Varsity Track and Field team. In the words of Gracie Abrams, the squad had a message to their old PR's: "leave and never come back!" The team set three new school records, qualified two new athletes for VISAA State Championships, and defeated the likes of MUCH larger schools including Monticello, James River, Brunswick, Fork Union, Caroline, West Springfield, Prince William County, Cumberland, William Monroe, Goochland and many more!  

 

As Eve rounded the final curve and dominated the home straight away in the middle lane, I have to imagine that all thirty teams were reflecting on her performance in the words of Gracie Abrams:  "oooo - bet you're thinking she's so cool." That's what was on my mind because her time of 1:16 is so cool - as is Eve claiming first place in her heat - and a four second PR!  

 

Equally electric, each time Aoife steps on to the track the energy in the stadium is palpable. An extraordinary athlete, she left her competition in the dust - FOUR times! First, Aoife dominated her heat of the 100 Meters.  Running the event for the first time, her time of 14.2 won the heat by more than five tenths of a second! Later on, she blasted her way through the 200 Meters - winning the race, breaking 29 seconds, and qualifying for VISAA State Championships in a time of 28.6 (in only her second 200 Meter Race ever!) 

 

The work of an elite sprinter always involves relays - and Aoife was a key member of both the 4x100 and 4x400 Meter Relays today! As Gracie Abrams once reflected, "wait, I think I've been there too," and Aoife's 4x100 Relay team of Malena, Aoife, Emory and Ana certainly have! This speedy group of Badgers ran 1:00.64, setting a new school record! The hand-offs were absolutely beautiful! Aoife didn't stop there - she served as the third leg of the 4x400, and the Badgers brought home ANOTHER school record - 4:56!  Lucy got the party going with a blazing fast first leg of 1:07, getting the baton to Emory in a strong position. Finishing strong, Aoife darted down the track and handed the baton to Claire who outkicked STAB to finish the race in style!  Gracie Abrams might say they "made it out alive," but that would be an understatement!

 

With perfect technique, Eli attacked each hurdle with increasing speed. Having dedicated each afternoon in practice to hurdle work, Eli truly earned his first appearance at VISAA State Championships - he won his heat and his time of 48.8 is a PR of a full second and a state qualifier! Congratulations Eli, we'll see you at Randolph College in May!

 

In the 200 Meters, Kemaan left his competition in the dust. In the words of Abrams, they wanted to be "close to you," but that was impossible - as Kemaan used a powerful start out of the blocks to win his heat in a time of 25.01!

 

Hayes (2:00.53) and Miles (2:05.53) both won their heats of the 800 Meters! For Hayes, his time of 2:00.53 is a SEVEN SECOND PR! He burst past his competition in the home stretch, especially tough to do after running the first lap in :59. Miles also dominated his first lap, the bell rang when he was at 60 seconds even, and his final time is a well earned four second PR! It was a special day for this distance duo - Hayes also ran a PR in the 1600 - 4:23.03, earning a silver medal as he finished second overall! He looked so strong down the home stretch, passing two runners in the final thirty meters. Miles crushed his previous PR of 4:46 - dropping eight seconds to run an incredible 4:38! Sub 4:40 is elite! Congratulations to you both!

 

Nobody competes harder than Peter Wilberger. Standing alongside his teammate and training partner Brendan, the two were the very first to take the track this morning. Peter ran the first lap of his 3200 in 1:15 - a lightning fast pace. Peter thought just like Abrams: "you're the risk I'm gonna be taking," and he never looked back. Peter hit the mile mark in 5:10, and remained aggressive throughout the second half of the race. Each time he had to make a decision, like Gracie Abrams, he reflected "I think I really want this, I'm not even kidding," and moved up to run with another pack. This strategy and effort earned him a massive PR - 20 seconds - and a blazing fast time of 10:22! Brendan, with a massive final kick, also broke the 11:00 mark earning a time of 10:57 and a PR! Later in the day, Jack Blemker also ran a gutsy 3200 in a super fast heat - his time of 9:49 is a new PR for him as well! What a magical performance for an incredible runner!

 

As mentioned above, it was a strong day for our sprinters. In the 100 Meters, Kemaan came through in 12.24 while Tre'Sean finished in 12.93. They later returned to the track for the 200 where Kemaan matched his PR and won his heat in 25.01, Tre'Sean ran 26.5 and Eli crossed the line in 26.9! On the girls side, Claire D nearly matched her PR, flying through in 25.5!

 

The impressive work continued in the 400 Meters where Gabriel established a new 2026 PR! Gabriel's time of 54.7 is blazing fast - and he is back under 55 - ready for his relay leg at Dogwood! Van broke 1:00 for the first time, earning a huge PR of 59.65 - and finishing second in his heat! On the girls side, Claire finished third in her heat in a time of 1:19 - setting a very fast standard in her first ever 400 Meters! Emory was right on her heels with a new PR time of 1:20! Victoria also established a new PR of 1:32 - running three seconds faster than ever before!

 

In the 800, Alexander (2:30) and Will (2:31) dropped nine and five seconds off of their previous bests, running PR's in their best races of the season! On the girls side, Avery and Eve nearly matched their PR's of 3:06 and 3:24.  Jack J had a massive race in the 1600 - dropping three seconds off his PR to earn a super speedy 5:12!

I had the great privilege of running two workouts with Dhruvi this week - and we spent a lot of time talking about how she needed to be aggressive in her races this week. I could not have been more excited when I saw her truly go for it - first in the 1600 where her PR of 7:04 is a THIRTY SEVEN SECOND PR and then in the 800 where she dropped SIXTEEN seconds off 3:28 and ran 3:12! Malena had a similarly magical performance - her 1600 Meter time of 7:07 is a FORTY THREE SECOND PR! Lucy (6:04) and Claire (6:20) also had an awesome day on track!

 

Running in the Freshman 1600, Peter D exploded to a time of 5:15 - a ten second PR! Between that and his 300 Meter Hurdle performance, Peter continues to join the likes of the elite! Nico, who logged heavy miles this week, broke 6:00 for the first time - 5:57!

 

Kemaan cleared 5'8" in the High Jump, continuing to burst on the scene, while Levie tossed the shot 33'10.5"! He also nearly matched his PR in the discus, tossing 76'6"! On the girls side, Ana fired the shot 17'4"!

 

What an incredible performance for our Badgers! Thanks to all of the families who came out to support - and to my fellow coaches Jason, Ned and Melissa who spent the entire day on track with these wonderful athletes! The team will be back in action at the Dogwood Invitational next Friday and Saturday at UVA. Looking forward to seeing you there - it'll be so cool!