Leading off with the boys:
From the field events meet last week, Braden Connolly fired off a 36’-5.75” effort in the shop put, nailing down No. 3 on the freshman list. He finally puts to rest a 1976–seriously–performance by Stan Olshefski, which might be the most 1976 shot put name created. It was the oldest record on the board (all the running converted to metric in 1981 indoor, but still).
The 55m was a show. By the time the finals were run, Matt Morrison had broken the junior record and hit No. 2 on the All-Time list courtesy of a 6.54 clocking (that’s a 6.3h!). A tick behind was Travis Cavallo thoroughly extending his freshman record and landing at No. 4 All-Time with his 6.58. Ryan Dane ’20 comes off the junior list as a result.
The 55m HH had moves both expected and unexpected. Matt Morrison improved his All-Time No. 4 spot to 7.75, but that also moves him to No. 3 on the junior list. I can’t believe I’m writing this but Conor Seleny ’20 is bumped from that list. Conor was a superb athlete with similar event-strengths to Matt. John Child drops his time all the way to 8.00, which I remind myself is equivalent to 7.8h. That’s No. 2 on the sophomore list, faster than the sophomore version Adam Spencer ’19, Conor, Matt Morrison, and Fareed Rice ’95. Faster than everyone except Kretchmer?! Wow. And yes, a freshman enters the lists! Gavin Edgecomb slots into No. 3 on the frosh list, tied with Dan Forsman ’97. Successful hurdle-groups are awesome.
Travis Cavallo stretched it out in the 300m with his 38.90. No. 2 on that freshman list now, he surpasses Kaycee Scheibert ’17 and Jason Harris ’05. The only person above Travis is eventual school record holder Jadyn Ruimwijk ’18 at 38.23. Also, I missed noting previously that Matt Morrison’s 13 January race in the 300m also got him the junior record, in addition to the No. 4 all-time.
Jason Robie does what so many young mid-distance runners have tried to do since 1997: knock Coach French off the 1000m Freshman Top 3. Jason’s 2:48.96 does the job to nail down No. 3.
Joe Gustavson, so close to the freshman list in the 3000m, breaks into the 1500m frosh list at No. 2 at 4:28.39. What was cool to me about the trio he broke into was that I ran with all of them: Greg Parthum remain top spot at 4:26.5, Mark Blanchard ’95 is now No. 3, and John Stanley ’94 drops off with No. 4. You’re in with great people, Joe! Finn Christianson-Kraft’s 4:11.41 is No. 12 all-time – impressive.
The record boards are updated at paxctrack.com. More PRs listed in the snapshot. Here comes D1, let’s go!
To the girls!
NEW SCHOOL RECORD! The 4x800m team came through and broke up the whole shop. Sarah Rzasa, Parker Knowlton, Izzy Groulx, and Tess Silva killed it to start off the meet: 9:40.69 is emphatically past the former record of 9:45.31. In the waning days of Life As We Knew It, Olivia Welch ‘22, Molly McGaffigan ‘21, Mariesa Preble ‘22, and Macy Graves ‘21 set that old record at the New England Championship on 29 February 2020 (gosh, all of those girls had seasons left to give). But it’s time to celebrate the present because track is all the way back, and Sarah, Parker, Izzy, and Tess are responsible for bringing it here. Congrats!
I wanted to pick up a field event from last Thursday: Eva Roberts is the business. Yeah those sprints are impressive (more later) but that long jump. Already jumping in the mid-15s, Eva PR’d by over a foot, dear readers, OVER A FOOT AS A SENIOR. 16’ – 10.25” puts her at No. 7 all-time, just past Megan Richardson ’99. Nikki Pelletier ’99, probably better known for her ability to consistently HJ 5’-2”, drops from the Top 10. Eva’s leap has her currently at No. 4 on the D-I Battle Notes.
Back in the 55m, we got the smoke show. Eva blasted a 7.48, moving up to No. 4 All-Time, past Alexis Souhlaris ’06, Jordan Doherty ’10, and Olympian Maggie Barrie ’14. Remember when I put the qualifier on Nora exiting the Top 10? Did us proud. Nora’s back on the list with her fresh 7.54, tied for the No. 9 spot with teammate Hannah Sippel. That’s three current sprinters in the 55m Top 10 All-Time, fans. Dropping from the Top 10 to make room is Amelia Graves ’19 (of all people!). Nora’s time also gets her to No. 3 on the sophomore list.
Mollie Wheale’s four-stepping style got her to 9.19 in the 55m HH. Still a sophomore, she’s just a bit outside that class Top 3 and ranks around No. 12 All-Time.
After that school record 4x800m, what did they have left? Parker Knowlton had enough in the tank for a PR 3:12.41 in the 1000m. Sarah Rzasa did, too, swinging through the 600m in 1:43.45, just 0.01s out of the sophomore Top 3. Who’s at No. 3? Brittney Johnson ’18. I’m sorry we’re threatening Brittany Johnson times now? Daaaaaang girls because Nicole Blake was right there on Saturday at 1:43.92 to join that party.
The girls 4x200m took out another notch on the Top 5 list. This time coming in at No. 4 All-Time, Eva Roberts, Aislinn Sprague, Nora Brayall, and Hannah Sippel fought through a heart-stopping exchange but nailed down a 1:50.78. This season we’ve seen that quartet take the 4x200m school record but now the No. 2 and No. 4 times as well.
And for good measure, forever more, when I pull up her profile off this track database to see all the great distance feats, I will always giggle about that time Izzy Groulx got in the shot put circle, heaving the ol’ ball over 20 ft last Thursday!
The record board over at paxctrack.com should be updated for your checking pleasure at the D-I championships. Let’s go!
