Arnav Pallapothu ‘23
On February 5, several local high schools traveled to Mercersburg Academy to participate in Mercersburg’s Flash Invitational.
Head boys coach David Grady said, “Our goal was to take things up a notch from our previous meet which was two weeks ago. Almost all of the athletes saw measurable improvement in their performances. In that way, the meet was a success.”
Grady further said, “Training for this meet was tough. Our preparation was a bit inconsistent for this particular meet due to the long winter weekend and a canceled meet. This is reflective of the preparation as a whole throughout the season. It has been very difficult to get into a consistent rhythm.”
Captain Tommy Tereschuk ‘22 agreed. “Preparation has been a challenge seeing as we had two or three meets canceled at the beginning of the season,” he said.
While training was not without its difficulties, head girls coach Betsy Cunningham has a positive, confident outlook for the future: “We are hoping to compete well at the MAPL meet this weekend at Lawrenceville. We are limited to only 3 athletes per event so we will not be able to bring the entire team, but based on current results from other teams, it looks like we should be right up there with the top competitors at the meet.”
These hopes for the future are certainly well-founded. Tereschuk commented on the team’s highlights so far. “We’ve already had a few athletes break top 10 records in Mercersburg’s all time indoor track records. And this past weekend, all 4 long jumpers broke their personal records. It just goes to show how hard they’ve been working. There’s a good team atmosphere,” he said.
Cunningham identified specific athletes who set personal bests during the Flash Invitational. Oscar Su ‘25 broke his personal record in the pole vault while Terechuk won the long jump event. Anne Sehon ‘25 performed exceptionally well in the 800 meter and Mick Lorenger ‘22 soundly crushed his opponents in the numerous races he participated in.
However, these accomplishments don’t mean that the team is perfect. Grady commented on some of the team’s difficulties. He said, ”One significant challenge this season has been the lack of meets due to various circumstances. To be better prepared to perform at a high level in meets, athletes need regular competition. We simply have not had enough opportunities to benefit from competition.” Tereschuk looked ahead and also commented on some future obstacles, “Right now, everyone’s dealing with some soreness and fatigue from this past meet as well as going pretty hard at practice. Recovery and overcoming that will be huge for us these next two weeks.”
The track team is jam-packed with hard working and motivated athletes. Both Grady and Cunningham hope to finish the rest of the winter season strong with some notable results from the athletes. Their next meet is the MAPL championship meet, postponed earlier in the season.