After two cancellations because of snow, the Trojans finally competed against Oakmont on Wednesday, Feb. 11, at Fitchburg High School. The girls’ and boys’ teams both lost, with a score of 63–28 for the girls and 67–20 for the boys.
The Bromfield girls had their strongest performances in the field events, with senior Brianna Harte taking first in the shot put and sophomore Grace Turnbull winning the high jump. Backing up Turnbull in the high jump was freshman Sophie Beckman, who placed second. Beckman also won the 1,000-meter.
In the most intense race of the day, the girls’ 4×200-meter relay team brought home a win. Oakmont always brings a strong team of sprinters, so Bromfield knew that the race would be tough. The starter’s gun went off, and freshman Anya Begue sprinted forward. The Trojans were on the inside lane, so at first it looked as if Oakmont had a huge lead; however, as the first 200 meters of the race ended, Begue had almost caught up to Oakmont’s runner. The baton passed to fellow freshman Cameron Hettich, and she raced after her opponent. After rounding the first corner, Hettich began to gain on the Oakmont runner, and as both girls sprinted down the straightaway, Hettich passed her. Next up for Bromfield was junior Deirdre Kennedy, who proceeded to widen the narrow gap between Oakmont and Bromfield. Kennedy sprinted in for the final handoff, passing the baton to sophomore Sarah Doben. For the first part of the final leg, it looked as if Oakmont might catch up, but Doben picked up speed as she raced through the final half lap and Bromfield’s win was sealed.
The Bromfield boys had only one first-place finisher in the Oakmont meet; however, there were several strong individual performances.
Senior Price Day scored the most points in the meet, winning the 600-meter and placing second in the 300-meter. The meet’s second highest point scorer was sophomore Paul Chapman, who also scored in the most events, placing second in the 1,000-meter, the one-mile, and the high jump.
The Trojans’ most impressive performance of the day came from junior Jon Schmidt in the shot put. Schmidt finished third in the event, throwing more than 2.5 feet farther than his previous best.
Placement Statistics
Girls
- 55-meter dash—No places scored.
- 55m hurdles—2, Anya Begue, 10.2 seconds
- 300m—3, Tessa McClain, 50.2
- 600m—No places scored.
- 1,000m—1, Sophie Beckman, 3 minutes 35.0 seconds
- 1-mile—3, Kate Toll, 6:15.1
- 2-mile—No entry.
- 4x200m relay—1, Bromfield, Begue, Cameron Hettich, Deirdre Kennedy, Sarah Doben, 2:03.4
- 4x400m relay— No places scored.
- Shot put—1, Brianna Harte, 29 feet 7 inches
- High jump—1, Grace Turnbull, 4-10; 2, Beckman, 4-6
Boys
- 55-meter dash—3, Hunter Ashley, 7.1 seconds
- 55m hurdles—3, Alvin Li, 10.5
- 300m—2, Price Day, 40.4; 3, Ashley, 40.9
- 600m—1, Price Day, 1 minute 34.7 seconds
- 1,000m—2, Paul Chapman, 3:07.1
- 1-mile—2, Chapman, 5:20.7; 3, Will Day, 5:21.0
- 2-mile—No entry.
- 4x200m relay—No entry.
- 4x400m relay—No places scored.
- Shot put—3, Jon Schmidt, 38 feet 4 inches
- High jump—2, Chapman, 4-8
Carlisle Ferguson is a junior at the Bromfield School and a member of the Bromfield girls’ indoor track team.
