By Noah Whiting
Sports Managing Editor
The qualifying members of the boys and girls Indoor Track teams concluded their seasons last weekend among the most elite athletes in the nation at the New Balance Indoor Nationals.
For the girls Distance Medley Relay, junior Clare Martin led off with the 1200 meter leg (3:29.90), followed by senior captain Lizzie Walkes in the 400 meter dash (59.66), sophomore Emily Bulczynski in the 800 meter leg (2:19.69) and the relay was anchored by senior captain Rebecca Grusby with the 1600 meter finish (4:54.71).
All four girls recorded personal records en route to 5th place in the nation (11:43.96). Their time set a school record and ranks second all time in New England only to Lincoln Sudbury who also broke the New England record, snatching 3rd overall at nationals (11:42.03).
Their fifth place finish was good enough to receive All-American honors, which are awarded to the top six teams in each event.
Senior captain Rebecca Grusby, who smashed her one mile personal record en route to becoming an All-American with her first ever sub 5-minute mile, called the experience “my greatest accomplishment so far”.
The girl’s 4xmile competed the following day with Grusby and Martin doubling back, alongside sophomore Caroline Barry and junior Katie Collins. The relay struggled with severe illness and injury, yet placed 12th in the nation with the 5th fastest time in Newton South history.
Clare Martin, who was scheduled to compete again on the final day in the 800 meter race, was unable to due to injury.
Philip Batler was the story for the boys over the weekend, running the 60 meter dash, 200 meter dash, and the 4×200 meter dash. His best performance came in the Emerging Elite 200 meter dash where he recorded a personal record of 22.19 seconds, placing 4th.
Emerging Elite is slightly less competitive compared to the championship events at Nationals, however Batler’s time was ranked in the top 20 for all 200 meter dashes at the meet, making him one of the best in the country.
Philip Batler was also a part of the all senior 4×200 meter relay along with Eli Braginsky, Jake Epstein, and Alex Huang. The relay placed 28th in 1:31.51 after a successful season where they set a new school record, and placed high in the statewide and New England meets.
“Personally I am really excited [about my results],” said Batler. “My goal was to go sub twenty-two, but I was pretty close so I know that I can definitely do it outdoors on a bigger track.”
The Preperation
Due to strict MIAA rules, the track teams are not allowed to be affiliated with their school after the New England Championships. This means that athletes can not wear their school uniforms at the meet, and, for the two weeks between Nationals and New England’s, they are not allowed to be in contact with their coaches.
For the boys, the absence of a coach made the last two weeks of training leading up to Nationals difficult. Senior Philip Batler, who ran in three events, said “I think [that not having a coach] was really detrimental to our training because I was writing the workouts for the whole team, and as much as I like to think that I could have done a good job with that, I am not a coach.”
For Batler, the absence of a coach at the meet was tough to handle personally because it was the first time that he had raced two days in a row, and he had no coach to turn to for questions.
The girls team, according to senior captain Rebecca Grusby, had a much different experience.
“We have all had [Coach] Steve [McChesney’s] training for an entire season, and a lot of us have been with him for more than just this year. We have gotten all of his lessons on training in the past so it wasn’t that bad.”
McChesney went to watch his runners at Nationals and was able to provide guidance for them at the race without violating any MIAA rules.
Coach or no coach, four months of training paid off for both teams as the girls Distance Medley Relay earned All-American status and Philip Batler placed 4th in the Emerging Elite 200 meter dash.
Was there a source for “was able to provide guidance for them at the race without violating any MIAA rules” ?