On Thursday, April 8, for the first time in 23 months, Hill’s track and field teams crouched in the starting blocks, measured steps on the jumping runways, and prepared to throw in a competition. Perhaps there was no opponent more fitting for such an occasion than Hill’s rival of more than 130 years, The Lawrenceville School. A warm spring temperature, sunny skies, and a light breeze greeted Hill’s teams as they debarked the busses alongside Lawrenceville’s Eglin Memorial Track.
Following such a long hiatus, no one was entirely sure what to expect entering the meet.
The outcome exceeded all expectations.
In the first event on the track, the 4x100-meter relay, the girls’ relay team of Kiki Lange ’21, Sarah Kenvin ’23, Susanna Soderman ’21, and Sydney Floyd ’21 broke the tape in a school-record time of 50.54 seconds, eclipsing the previous record of 50.82 set at the 2019 PASIAA Championship Meet. The improbable – because of how early in the season it occurred – record set the tone for the rest of the day, as Hill’s girls ran to a 74-66 victory, the team’s first win over the Big Red since 2001.
“Our athletes competed with a passion and a will to win unlike any I have seen in my tenure as head coach,” said head girls’ coach Pat Lake. “We saw that yesterday with Gvodas determinately picking off her competitors in the 1600m, with Yingling outlasting the field in the 800m, with Null making up a sizeable deficit to win the 100m hurdles, and with Harris running with a toughness and a desire to win in the 400m hurdles. Couple that with huge wins in the throws (Lange in the discus and Folk in the shot), a dominant sprint crew led by Floyd, and the strong one-two punch of Akinyanmi and Soderman in the horizontal jumps, and this team is built to win. I am so incredibly proud of our girls, so happy to see them represent our School and embody the ideals we hold here in such high regard: hard work, determination, humility, teamwork, and the pursuit of excellence.”
Hill fared particularly well in the track events, outscoring Lawrenceville 48-30, including a sweep of the 100-meter dash, a 1-2 finish in the 200-meter dash, and 1-3 finishes in both the 400 IM hurdles and the 100-meter high hurdles. In the 100 hurdles, Laura Null ’21 overcame a slow start to narrowly edge out Lawrenceville’s Ije Achebe at the line, securing valuable points for Hill. Lauren Yingling ’21 (800) and Colette Zidek ’23 (3200) also had first-place finishes for Hill on the track, while in the field events Hill received first place finishes from Lange (discus), Taylor Folk ’22 (shot put), and Soderman in both the long and triple jumps.
On the boys’ side, Lawrenceville won 81-64, but the loss cannot overshadow an impressive day for a green Hill team that has graduated most letter winners from the undefeated 2019 team. Highlights include a victory from newcomer Louis Gimbert ’21 in his first-ever 400-meter hurdles race, a 35-foot margin of victory in the javelin for Andrew D’Asaro ’21, who threw a substantial personal-best effort of 161’5”, and a trio of victories from Noah Toole ’22 in the 200-meter dash, long jump, and triple jump, headlining a sweep in the triple jump from Hill.