By Greenwich Country Day School
Greenwich Country Day School’s boys track and field team won its first Fairchester Athletic Association championship on May 11 at Brunswick School, finishing with a team score of 147 points to capture the team title.
Host Brunswick School finished a close second in the team standings with 144 points. Greenwich Country Day School’s girls team placed a fourth in the team standings at the FAA Championships, its highest ranking at the league meet to date.
“In the span of four years, our seniors have set a brilliant example of the joy of training to become excellent in this sport,” said Peter Heinz, head coach of the track and field team at GCDS. “Now, the results of their efforts speak for themselves. These athletes, without a track or a dedicated place to practice, have built a team culture that prizes its members and celebrates everyone’s progress. No surprise, the team has grown and grown.”
Over the course of the meet, there were 11 school records, six wins and 14 All-FAA performances. The Boys Team scoring was led by GCDS’s fearsome sprint squad – senior Steve Paul and sophomore Liam Kennon combined to score 28 points in the 100 and 200-meter dashes. Liam, Eli Rosen, and Nicholas Triplett combined for 20 more points in the 400-meter run. The sprinters punctuated their efforts over a long day by winning the 4×400-meter relay with an impressive time of 3:28.98.
The field events were key to the win for GCDS. Hurdler Chase Richards, a senior, led the way for a young crew of hurdlers, who combined to score nine points in the 110 hurdles and 14 in the 300-meter hurdles. Elijah Canty, a freshman, excelled in the jumps and was the joint-top scorer of the meet.
Elijah scored 26 points in 30 minutes. In the middle of his high jump progression, he took a break to lead off the second place 4×1, walked back over to the high jump where he secured the win, and then promptly jogged over to the long jump area in time to jump into the finals, where he ultimately placed second. Elijah capped his FAA season with an impressive 43-00.5 triple jump to secure his second win of the day. Cooper Edwards and Seneca Greenwood, made crucial contributions in the throws, capping off a true team effort for the Tigers.
The girls team scoring was led by the distance squad – eighth-grader Gisele Putka and senior Kendall Collier, who hammered away on behalf of their team. Gisele scored 22 points, winning the 800-meter run and Kendall pushed the pace on the way to 12 points in the 3000-meter race and the 1500-meter run. Freshmen and sophomore runners chipped in points in the field events and relays, setting three impressive school records in the process: Katie Culvahouse, a freshman, equaled her school record high jump of 4-06 and the Girls 4×100 and 4×400 of Mia Secko-Thompson, a sophomore, senior Celine Silvera, sophomore Lila Malone and freshman Katie Culvahouse also finished with school records.
“There is nothing more powerful in sports than watching athletes set goals, work towards them, and achieve those goals surrounded by the cheers and excitement of teammates,” said Tim Helstein, GCDS Director of Athletics. “Yesterday was that day and another historic moment in GCDS athletics history.”
