Acton-Boxboro, Lexington relay teams put on show
New meet records were on the docket and they came early and often at Saturday’s Div. 1 Coaches Relays.
Racing on the Reggie Lewis Center infield before a large, enthusiastic crowd, ActonBoxboro’s lineup of Osselmann Chai, Noah Stegmeier, Ivan Yan and William HurlbutLesk outdueled Lexington in a record 25.28 seconds in the shuttle hurdles.
In their bid to run down the Revolution, the Minutemen squad of Simon Tandeih, Aidan Raney, Ryan Zang and Jacob Pan clocked a 25.53, well under the previous meet record of 25.66 set in 2016 by Andover.
Acton-Boxboro was out of the gates quick and continued to romp on the way to capturing the team title for the first time since 2022 with 44 points. And according to head coach D.J. Brock, the win was one of the main focal points of the season.
“We usually don’t focus on records, but they’ve been working hard and knew they had a good chance at it,” Brock said. “They set the tone for the meet right from the start.”
The Revolution extended their lead with wins in the sprint medley (3:35.12), 4×200 (1:30.32) and distance medley (10:38.99).
Brock credited hurdle coach Adam Yang for much of the improvement. Yang, who recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, was also the New England champion in the 55 hurdles when he competed at Acton-Boxboro.
“Adam came back and wanted to help out the team,” Brock said. “I coached him in high school and am lucky enough to be coaching alongside him.”
Yang said coming back to coach at his former school has been a great experience.
“It’s been amazing,” Yang said. “I’m so lucky to have such a hard-working group. I’ll be around for a while. I’m not going anywhere.”
On the girls side, the Tigers of Newton North had to settle for a tie against a tough Franklin team as both both squads put up 36 points.
The Tigers’ lone win came in the long jump relay where Dolapo Soyoye led all jumpers with a leap of 17-1-1/4. The sprint medley team made up of Sophie Finkelstein, Bella Mangada, Penny Blumenthal and Ciara Evans grabbed the silver medal in 4:11.84.
“We’d prefer to win, but I’ll take the tie,” said Newton North head coach Mike Travers. “Franklin is a tough team.”
The Panthers’ key event came in the shot put. Lily DeForge led all competitors with a heave of 38-6-1/4 and teammates Elizabeth Hopkins and Sarah Dumas put their touch on the win.
Franklin head coach Paul Travato said it’s a tall task for any team going up against Newton North.
“I just told the girls today was an opportunity to do well,” he said. “Newton North is always a great program. All around we had a pretty solid day.”