On Wednesday, April 25, the track team’s meet was canceled due to bad weather, but that didn’t stop the track team from honoring its seniors, with a senior day in the gym. According to senior captain Trey Taylor, the day was still special.“The day still had the same effect,” Taylor said.
The boys team had their first meet on Saturday, April 28, against Brunswick School, Greenwich Academy, and Taft School. The girls team faced off against Taft School, Sacred Heart, Greenwich Academy, and Hopkins School. The boys team placed second in their meet, beating Brunswick and losing to Taft. The girls team came in fourth with Taft winning the meet.
Junior Broox Bolden ran the 200 meter dash in 26.1 seconds, coming in first place. He also placed first in the 100 meter running 11.3 seconds. Bolden also ran in two relays, the 4 x 400 relay and the 4 x 100 relay where he came in second and first respectively. Senior Keegan Toland had a tremendous day coming in first in two events, the discus and javelin, and second in the shot put.
Stand- out performance for the girls team included freshman Annelise Vaughn who came in second for the 800 and ran in the winning 4 x 400 relay and sophomore Ainsley Vaughn who came in second in both the 100 and the 200. Ainsley Vaughn also participated in the the 4 x 400 relay and the 4 x 100 relay, and in both races the Wyverns came in first place.
On Wednesday, May 2, the Wyverns faced off against Millbrook School, Williston Northampton School, and Watkinson. The boys and girls teams both placed second.
Key performances included freshman Jeff Davis and junior Ellis Winfree. Davis ran well, placing second in two events while also placing first in another event. In addition, Winfree threw well, winning the discus event.
An. Vaughn won the 800 and junior Erin Bowen placed first in the 300 hurdles along with finishing second in a strong 400.
The next Saturday, the KO track and field teams traveled to Cheshire for a meet. The boys and girls teams both emerged victorious, taking first place. For the boys team, senior Kian Issari won the high jump, came in second in the triple jump while also finishing first in javelin for the team. Senior captain Varun Tankala also ran well as he placed first in the 800 while also helping the boys 4 x 400 relay win.
Freshman Abby Fernald won the 1500 while also winning the javelin. Bowen also had a strong showing as she finished first in the long jump while also coming in first in the 300 hurdles.
The KO track and field team then had their Founders League meet on Saturday, May 12. The emphasis of this meet wasn’t necessarily to win against the much bigger and more experienced teams, though. Head Coach Alex Kraus said that the goal was to prepare for New Englands, while staying healthy.
“We try not get hurt at Founders, while still getting mentally ready,”Coach Kraus said. He also said that the meet was very important for getting used to competition that they would be facing at New Englands.
Another focus of Founders was to zero-in on certain events. “Focusing on two events you can do well in is the point of Founders,” Head Coach Tricia Watson said. Nevertheless, the Wyverns still had to compete at Founders. The boys team came in eighth out of eight teams while the girls team placed fifth out of seven teams.
Bolden finished third in the 100 along with an eighth place finish in the 200. He also helped the team in relays. Toland was also able to place fourth in both shot put and javelin.
For the girls, Bowen came in third in the 300 hurdles and the 400 while also helping the relays. Fernald also had a strong showing at Founders as she finished third in the javelin, sixth in the 1500, and ninth in the girls discus.
On Saturday, May 19, both the boys and girls team concluded their season at New England championships up in Maine. Both the girls and the boys team placed fifth out of 20.The focus of this meet for both teams was to compete and not worry specifically about what place they attained. “We [showed up] and ran competitively,” Coach Watson said. In the girls 4 x 100, senior captain Amiya Young, freshman Rinese Sterling, freshman Cici Chagnon, and junior Sydni Jett exemplified their improvement over the season, with a time of 53.65, taking third. The girls 4 x 400 team had a strong finish, seizing second place, in a race decided in the final lap. Ai. Vaughn took the baton and passed Pingree with a split of 60.8. Overall, the girls posted an impressive 10-5 record in dual meet events.
The boys relay teams also ran well. Just like the girls, the 4 x 100 team took third and the 4 x 400 team took second. The 4 x 100 time of 45.87 was the Wyverns’ season best. Junior Broox Bolden had a remarkable showing at New Englands, taking second in the 200 and third in the 100 with times of 23.29 and 11.55, respectively. In fact, Bolden’s third place finish in the 100 was the highest finish for a KO boy in the past 10 years.
Over the course of the season, the boys maintained a 12-2 record in dual meet competitions.
