Kirn, Lys, Kiley lead big day at MVC track Championship
May 25—BOYS TRACK
Led by Colin Kirn and Harvey Lys, host Andover had a big day, placing second as a team at the MVC Championship on Saturday at Andover High.
Kirn won the 800 title with a school and meet record 1:53.82.
"Coming into school, we have this big trophy case and it has all of the school records and times, so I remember looking at it when I was a freshman saying 'Oh my God, people can run that fast?' Just to be in that position now and to compete at the same level to those people who I looked up to means a lot to me," he said.
Later in the day, he joined up with Yeyden Del Valle, Ben Murfitt and Neil Chowdhury to win the 4x400 relay win 3:32.11.
After finishing second in the high jump (6-4), Lys won the long jump with a 21-00.50.
"I had a rough loss in the high jump, so I needed some type of win," said Lys. "I jumped 21-feet so I'm happy with that. It's a good win for me, so I'm happy. But I really did want to win the high jump."
The third individual title came from Ryan Swenson in the pole vault. He cleared 13-1, 13-7 and a 14-0, shattering his PR to earn the win.
"Earlier this season, I cleared 13 feet with a five-step approach and today I went to six steps and used a longer, different pole. I have been recovering from a back injury, so I'm trying to take it slow and progress (as I go along)," he said. "It's great and exciting to win and it's always nice to get a personal record."
Both Neil Chowdury and Kim are among the top sprinters/middle distance runners in the league and state. Chowdury is among the top in the 100/200/400 and Kim in the 400/800/mile. Adding depth there will be Jacob Chisholm and Peter Stubler and then in the hurdles, Patrick Allardi and Enzo Warren could lock down some points.
In the field events, Lys is tops in the high jump with a season best clear of 6-4 and then in the pole vault, the Warriors have the league's top two guys, Tyler Drummey and Ryan Swenson, who have both jumped 13 feet. In the triple jump Cam Gath is ranked second at 41-9.50.
"Our boys look good and we have a solid team. Obviously we have to get over a big hurdle and deal with North Andover. We're going to put the kids in the right spots and if they perform well, we should have a good chance competing against the North Andover boys," said head coach Peter Comeau. "Between Neil, Harvey and our hurdle crew, we're hoping for big days from them and they can score some points. Hopefully that gets us to the relays and we can run some good relays (and see what happens with the team scores)."
GIRLS TRACK
Andover was once again led by Molly Kiley on the way to placing second at the MVC Championship on Saturday at Andover. Kiley won the mile in 5:08.96, just ahead of Haverhill's Finleigh Simonds (5:09.73).
"We have competed against each other since freshman year and we just go back-and-forth, but she's been dominating more," said Kiley. "She pushes me a lot, she paces herself really well so having her there definitely helped me. Otherwise, I would have been much slower.
"It's my last 100 meters that I have been struggling with. So when I got to that point, I was just thinking to use everything that I have. I tend to give up mentally in the last 100 meters, so that was something that I kept telling myself not to do today."
Kiley was also part of the second place 4x800 relay team, joining Rose Kiley, Claire Demersseman and Mia Giaimo with a collective time of 10:06.39.
The 4x100 team of JJ Conteh, Neila Foohey, Maddie Robertson and Michaela Buckley won their race with a time of 51.09 seconds.
Conteh added a second in the 100 (12.78), Giaimo was also second in the 800 (2:22.30) and Robertson was third in the long jump (17-00.50). Finally, Ashley Sheldon had a busy day by taking second in the high jump (5-4) and third in the 100-meter hurdles (15.86) and triple jump (35-03.75).
