On Thursday, April 18th, two bus loads of athletes from the Braintree track team traveled to Foxboro High School to compete in the Warrior Invitational.
The Warrior Invitational is a lot like any other track meet. Athletes compete in the same events: the shot put, discus, javelin, high jump, long jump, triple jump, the 100 meter, 200 meter, 400 meter, 800 meter, mile, 2 mile, the 4×400 relay, and the 4×800 relay.
“I think we all did good even though the weather was kind of cold and crappy,” junior Caitlyn Chang explained. She felt pretty good about her performances on the day, but she implied she probably could have done better. Caitlyn placed 3rd overall in the mile with a time of 5:26, and 4th overall in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:03.
Sophomore Jacky Kiser threw the shot put and the discus. She placed 43rd overall in the discus, throwing 63.5 feet, and in the shot put, Jacky threw 29 feet 9.5 inches, and placed 17th overall in the event.
“I was pretty happy with myself given the fact that I’m coming off a bit of an injury. I didn’t run that much this week,” explained freshman Anna Flaherty. Anna placed 18th overall in the mile with a time of 5:48, and with a time of 1:08, placed 31st in the 400, and was very pleased with her performance.
The boys track team that also traveled for this invitational also participated in the various events.
Senior Manoach Bonhomme participated in the long jump and placed 28th overall, jumping 19 feet 2 inches, while junior Christopher Carey ran a 11.78 in the 100 meter dash. Junior Sean Masse threw 102 feet in the discus and came in 33rd, and senior Sean O’Malley threw 111 feet 10 inches, placing 31st overall in the javelin.
Senior Captain Nate Flaherty, and juniors Tony Gryciuk, Ryan McGinty, and Liam O’Driscoll finished their 4×800 relay in 8:31, and out of all the teams at this meet, they placed 2nd overall. These boys were the highest placing Braintree athletes of the day.
The performances from the Braintree Girls and Boys Track teams battled to place at the Warrior Invitational, though who knows if they could have done better. According to Anna Flaherty, “It was a little cold, so that definitely played into everyone’s performance.”
Who knows what’s next for these athletes? Matt Gabriel said he thinks, “They’ve been doing very well. [They’ve] been getting PR’s today,” and maybe there are some big personal records for these athletes in the future.
