One burning Saturday, when most students would have preferred to lounge about and relax after the first week of AP Exams, Tabor Academy Track and Field drove to Milton Academy. Their objective was to perform in their league’s championship meet in their second-to-last competition of the year. Although the team was greatly diminished from last year, and plagued by serious injuries, Tabor Track and Field represented the School by the Sea well with a number of medals and ribbons.
The Boys Track team ended the regular season with a 10-8 record and entered the championship meet eager to contend in almost every event. In the Men’s 1500 meter, junior Hunter Patrick fought back from late injury during the season to place ninth and would also later compete in the 800 meter.
Senior captain Gabriel Renaud took seventh in an exhausting 400-meter race then continued to race in the 200-meter race and placed sixth with 23.98 seconds. Byung Hyung Jang, Tabor’s lone hurdler of the meet, earned seventh in the 300-meter hurdles; throwers Anthony Hinds and Hunter Dupont competed in shot put. Hinds would later place third in the discus with a throw of 137 feet, 9 inches.
In the 3000-meter race, Tabor entered three runners; all three would finish the race in the top ten. Sophomores Hiroshu Nakajima and John Kanto placed fourth and sixth, respectively with times of 9:40.44 and 9:45.93, earning ribbons for Tabor.
Andy O’Rourke, captain, suffered an injury early in the season that would persist through the entire spring. with pains and aches, he still managed a fourth place finish in the Men’s High Jump, clearing 5 feet, 10 inches. His personal best on the year was 6 feet, earned the week before at Tabor’s final home meet.
Junior Tim Burke and senior captain Tomas Adams both participated in the Pole Vault. Burke’s 10 foot clearance earned him a ninth place finish while Adams brought Tabor Boys a gold medal at 13 feet. Adams had been injured for the majority of the season and was only recently able to return to practice; during his period of absence, Tim had valiantly filled in. Overall, through injury and loss of seniors, Tabor Boys Track still managed to put on a bold performance in a championship meet.
The Girls Track team struggled early in the season, but as a result of many younger athletes’ improvement, ended with a winning 7-6 record. Freshmen and Marion-native Julia O’Rourke and Gwen McCain both placed in the top ten for the Women’s 1500 meter race. McCain would return to run in the 800 meter as well.
Alyssa Rueb and Fedora Jean-Francois just missed placing in the Javelin; Jean-Francois threw while injured and Rueb was forced to run back and forth between High Jump and Javelin.
Without a doubt, the star of the day was Alyssa Ward with a first, third and fifth place finish, earning 18 points total for the Girls team. Ward began by winning the Women’s High Jump, clearing 5 feet before attempting the course record. She then hurried to jump a third-place 16 feet and 8.5 inches in the Long Jump and run 1:01.40 for the 400 meter to earn her fifth place ribbon. With a young team and numerous injuries, the end of winning season signals a bright future for the Tabor Girls team.
By Jake Farias