Mampieri hands off to Warren (Chris Heermann’18/Media)
After enjoying a successful MSL meet last week, the boys track team kept its momentum going as it snatched the district title from Northmor in the first round of the states on Saturday, May 20. The Vikings scored 98 points after all 17 events, edging out Northmor and Fairfield Christian, who scored 92 and 90 points, respectively.
The boys team started out with a first place finish in the 4×800 meter relay of Grayson Mick ’17, juniors Nicholas Robie and Nick Watson, plus, Liam McCann’19. The relay finished a full 10 seconds ahead of second place, giving the Vikings a boost of confidence to settle any lingering nerves as they embark on the arduous road to states.
The 4×100 relay of sophomore Harry Mills, junior Karibi Hart, and seniors Michael Kusi and Hunter Moffett, also came out on top Hart says the reason behind their success was finding “a group of guys who all want to win,” and that “our handoffs were a bit choppy but Mike’s good start out of the blocks put us in a position to win.”
Robie took off in the 800, finishing first with Watson coming in third. Hart finished second in the 200 meter dash. The 4×200 relay of Nathan Sardo ‘17, Moffett, Mills, and Kusi finished fourth, all qualifying for regionals.
Mick and McCann proved that the Vikes could dominate the distance events as well, placing first in the 1600 meter run and 3200 meter run, respectively.
The Vikings also had strong showings in the 300 meter hurdles, with Thomas Mampieri ‘17 coming in fourth and Dylan Warren ‘17 coming in seventh.
Competing in field events were Jacob Taub’17 and Caleb Crawley’19 in discus. Although they threw well, the competition was tougher than expected, so neither qualified for regionals.
The last event of the day was the 4×400 meter relay: Mampieri, Moffatt, Warren, and Hart finished first, scoring enough points to give the Vikings the victory. This marks the tenth consecutive district win for the Academy Boys Track team.
Despite their stellar performances, the boys can’t afford to rest on their laurels yet.
They will run prelims for regionals on Wednesday, May 25 and finals on Friday, May 27.
