The track and field team hosted senior night and the second PAL track meet against Aragon and Mills on Tuesday in 90-degree weather. The Bears performed remarkably, securing numerous personal records and first-place finishes on the leaderboard.
In both the boys and girls 1600M race, M-A owned the leaderboard. For the boys, junior Calvin Blanford finished with a time of 4:35.86 and Benjamin Salceda with a time of 4:36.99, obtaining first and second place, each with a new impressive personal record. On the girls’ end, sophomore Caroline Pflaum took the win with a time of 5:20.5, followed by senior Paige McGaraghan at 5:21.38 and freshman Mia Smith at 5:36.11.
“There were a lot of great efforts, especially in this heat, and they showed a lot of energy and spirit tonight. [They] represented the Bears very well,” Head Distance Coach Andy Pflaum said.
C. Pflaum didn’t slow down either, finishing her 800M run more than five seconds ahead of her competitors. The boys team also found success in the 800M, holding the top two spots courtesy of seniors Aidan Sharp in first and Cason Mitchell in second.
“All of us worked really hard, and we’re a great team together and it just lifts everybody up,” senior Noam Bertot said. “It’s more of a team sport than you think. You know, running, you can do it by yourself, but it really helps to have a team for sure.”
Sophomore Kyle Gabriel stretched himself to the top in the boys’ 100M dash, leaving his competition behind in a flash finish as close as 0.03 seconds. Refusing to give Aragon or Mills a break, Gabriel was the only athlete representing M-A in the boys’ high jump, where he took first place over the nine other competitors.
“They did awesome. We’re overcoming some injuries, so we’re short-handed a little bit. But the ones that ran today, they performed well,” Head Coach Aisha Swayzer said.
The girls team placed second in the 4x100M relay with stellar efforts from junior Mo Rhai Balinton, sophomore Diya Mahadevan, junior Alexandra Jones, and junior Keyara McGraw. Later, junior Oscar Wettermark earned first place in the boys 3200M with an impressive time of 10:05.14, closely trailed by senior Asher Harris in second.
The seniors gave it their all, and after a long, hot day came the bittersweet senior night celebration. The team celebrated the athletes with emotional speeches as they walked down the field with family and friends to receive their senior posters and leis.
“At least for distance, we spend a lot of time talking, because on our runs we get to know each other, and we go through our days every day. So it’s a really tight-knit community and that’s just been so special,” senior Louisa Pflaum said.
The Bears will return to the track on Friday for the Dublin Distance Festival.
