By Jessie Lang ’18, Contributor
The 2016 Cincinnati Country Day School varsity track and field team kicked off the season with its first meet, April 1st, at McNicholas High School. Throughout the multitude of events on the track and on the field, the athletes did an outstanding job. Competing against thirteen other schools, including Roger Bacon, Summit Country Day, CHCA, and Clark Montessori, Country Day’s track and field stars finished with terrific results in their events.
In the boys’ 100 meter dash, Darryn Jordan ‘16 earned 3rd place out of 26 sprinters, with a time of 11.64 seconds. John Blang ‘18 scored 3rd with a time of 23.81 in the 200 meter dash. In the 1600 meter run, Alec Hamall ‘19 finished 7th in 4:55 minutes. In the 4 x 200 meter relay, the team of Myles Jackson ‘17, Justin Ramey ‘17, Marek Mack ‘17, and Blake Adkins ‘18 secured 5th place with a time of 1:42. In the 4 x 400 relay, Jordan, Douglas Barnett ‘16, Blang, and Cooper Ebersbach ‘16 achieved 6th place with a time of 3:51. Barnett was 5th out of 18 in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 44.76 seconds. Overall, he boys blew away the track events.
In boys’ field events, Schuyler Snell ‘16 placed 4th in high jump with a height of 5.04 feet. Blake Adkins scored 3rd in pole vault with 10 feet, and Ian Hayes ‘16 scored 7th with 9 feet. Rodney Bethea ’16 threw 35.05 feet for shot put, securing 10th place. Marius Lancaster ’16 threw 32.01 in shot put, achieving 16th place. In the discus throw, Corey Lancaster ’18 placed 7th out of 20, throwing the discus 96.04 feet. Overall, the boys had a very solid performance in the meet.
The girls’ events were also fantastic. In the 100 meter dash, Simone Burnett ‘18 raced across the finish in 6th place with a time of 13.66 seconds. Ayanna Kemp ‘18 scored 5th place in the 200 meter dash, with a time of 28.34. Grace Pettengill ‘17 blazed through the 800 meter run in 1st place out of 22, with 2:31. Kaitlyn Hardesty ‘18 placed 8th with a time of 14:12 in the 3200 meter run. In the 4 x 200 meter relay, the team of Haven Watson ‘16, Kemp, Burnett, and Keyra English ’18 finished 2nd out of 11 teams, with a time of 1:54. In the 300 meter hurdles, Lorae Stojanovic ‘18 made 3rd place in 53.85 seconds, and Moya Ly ‘18 made 5th place in a close 55.60 seconds.
For girls’ field events, Watson scored 3rd place out of 19 in the long jump, with a distance of 14.06 feet. Abby Bryant ’16 pole vaulted to 4th place with 6.06 feet, and Clarissa Conner ‘18 also achieved a height of 6.06 feet. Tiara Atwater ‘16 threw 27.01 feet in shot put, making 11th place, while Katie Jamison ’16 made 13th with 26.02 feet. Nicki Rosiello ‘16 scored 17th in discus with a distance of 62.07 feet.
The track and field team slayed the meet, scoring in the top few spots of each event. They ran fast, furious, and far, jumped with power, and threw with force. The team has seen many new members join its ranks from every grade, and this year breaks the record for the biggest track and field team Country Day has ever had. The large team, sporting around 50, is made up of talented athletes and experienced coaches that teach with all they’ve got (Coach Conner, Coach Wright, Coach Cote, Coach Black, Coach Waite, and Coach Brittney).
Along with athletic prowess, the team is also very close and has a lot of fun. At the McNicholas meet, it was awesome to hear the loud cheering from fellow teammates, and the bus rides were crazy and exciting. The team is a great place to make a lot of new friends and strengthen old bonds.
The Country Day track and field team started off the 2016 season with a bang, and they have many more great performances ahead of them. The next meets are April 12th and 13th at New Richmond.
Image Source: http://slco.org/recreation/jlsorenson/youthSports/trackAndField.html
