Be it ever so humble - home meet w/ AB-Tyngsborough-Weston

Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.

So, finally, it came to pass. After intense lobbying of the City of Newton, we managed to get the funds to patch up the track. A huge “thanks” should go to Jon Frieze, who worked with contractors to get the track patched – not once, but twice.

The track is battle scarred, with more patches than Raggedy Anne’s dress, and a nice little dip in the middle of the straightaway for those nostalgic for cross country. After skipping a generation of Newton South runners, we finally (and barely!) managed to hold a home meet albeit held together with spit and bailing wire. For the team, it was, however, a real moment of pride. Not only did we get to play host, but the kids had an added incentive to give everything they had into their events. After several cold, rainy days, we at least had some sun coming out. It was a cold day for sure, but at least one that everyone seemed to bask in sunlight.

We played host to Acton Boxborough, Tyngsborough and Weston. Through some mix-up, the Tyngsborough bus was initially diverted to AB, but then got to Newton South. Events started around 4:15 or so, and the meet finally wound up at 7:45 or so. Both the boys and girls squads won all dual matchups. The closest score was the boys against AB (NS 94, AB 51). Here is a summary of all the scores:

Boys
NS 127 Tyngsborough 16.5
NS 117 Weston 28
NS 94 AB 51

Girls
NS 137.5 Tyngsborough 5.5
NS 123 Weston 20
NS 114 AB 30

The cold held down the performances a bit, but not by much. I know I don’t have all the marks and times, but here’s my attempt at reproducing the results.

In the 300m hurdles, there was a tight race between Ben Seifer and the AB’s Scott Reilly. Scott took it at the final moment, but both had good times: 43.5 and 43.6.

In the boys mile, we had a sweep of John Beck, followed by Yuji Wakimoto, followed by Ben Finch, followed by Cliff Bargar. Winning time was 4:44. In the girls mile, again, a sweep by NS – Kelsey Karys in 5:22, followed by Juliet Ryan-Davis and Melanie Fineman. My running buddy, Charlie Kelly, who has a girl at Woburn, said to me, on learning that my son runs for NS: “Newton South? Isn’t that where they grow milers?” I guess so.

In the boys 800m, Sasha Long took a chance and went out hard against AB’s Jack Benjamin. Ultimately, Jack was about to put on a strong kick for first and Sasha and Will Cha took 2-3. NS swept the 800m – led by Bridget Dahlberg in 2:20.6, then Diana Braver and Julia Frieze for 2-3.

In the 200m – James Huth took first, holding off one of AB’s two hot sprinters, Stanley Ye. I’ve heard reports of both 22.9 and 23.1 for the winning time. Georgy K. took third, breaking 24 for the first time – 23.9. For the ladies, Casey Hsiung, AB’s top sprinter took first, and Pebbles Banks took 2nd. Frosh Andrea Braver took 3rd.

Hurdles – Yong Cho continues to impress – taking first with a huge margin of victory, and lowering his PR to 14.6. We’re expecting a huge matchup of Yong and Bryant Wang of LS in the near future. Azeezah Gray took 2nd in the hurdles in 17.0.

In the 400 – this was a huge battle for first. Dani Pensak took out the pace hard, and was passed on the last curve, but she battled back on the straightaway and pulled out a first. It was a gutsy race, and it left Dani gasping for air. She finally recovered, but definitely put everything she had into it. Gerald Arneaud cruised in for the win in the 400m. He’s running the 800m for the first time ever at the Weston Twilight meet – you won’t want to miss that one.

The 100m dash – Katie Sandson continues to wow us in the 100, taking 1st. Candace Bailey 2nd. For the boys, AB’s DJ Brock took first in 11.1, Kwame 2nd in a PR of 11.4. DJ was so stoked about qualifying for States that he immediately got on his cell phone to his mom shouting the news to her. Although Kwame PR’ed, he felt like he could’ve run faster. The good news is that there is plenty of time left in the season.

In the two mile, AB’s Dan Grant, Cameron Fen and Andrew Wortham ran together in a tight pack. Andrew tried to put a move on Dan in the last lap, but Dan managed to increase his turnover a lot in a final kick to take first. Still, Andrew and Cameron took 2-3 in a pretty strong time – I believe both were sub-10.

The boys and girls two mile were run at the same time because we were way behind schedule. In the girls portion of the race, Madeleine Reed and Kathy O’Keefe ran together for most of the race, with Madeleine taking first in 11.45. NS took all 4 relays.

In the boys 4x1, we had James H. to Yong C. to Georgiy K. to Kwame F-J. After making up the stagger in the first leg, we never were threatened – taking first in 44.4. The school record is 43.8, which seems like it may be in jeopardy – perhaps also falling like the 4x200 did during indoor.

In the girls 4x1, we had Candace to Katie to Azeezah to Pebbles. Like the boys race, NS took the early lead and never let up, despite a hard closing 100 by Casey Hsiung from AB.

The girls 4x4 was a dominant performance with Juliet to Diana to Julia to Bridget. The winning time was 4:16. Our B squad of Andrea B. to Amrita to Melanie to Madeline nearly beat the AB A squad – a tremendous performance!

The last race of the day was the boys 4x4. If you only have 10 meters on Gerald, he’s going to take you in the anchor. So, it came to pass, and Gerald too first for a sweep. Lest you think the running events were dominant, we had some tremendous performances in the field events.

Closest to my heart is the javelin – Nalis Mbianda took 2nd against AB with a throw of 91’3”. Kayla Jackson PR’ed again with a tremendous throw of 88’9” for third. They finished 1-2 against Weston. In the boys, Chris Kim took first with a throw of 153’11”, despite a truncated run-up. John M. took third with a near PR of 129’10”.

In the shotput, Nalis had a huge PR of 35’3.5”, with Liz Jeyaraj 2nd. I don’t have the results of the boys shot in front of me, but I think Chris Kim threw 39’.

In the discus, Hillary Bloom took first – without a full wind-up even. Joey Needleman likewise took first for the boys.

The girls swept the long jump with Candace, Christie Lee and Andrea Braver 1-2-3. Yong Cho took first in the boys with 20’9”. Huge.

Again, the girls swept it in the triple jump – this time with Pebbles, Zoe and Emily Epstein taking 1-2-3.

High jump – the Ellis sisters took 1-2. I don’t have the results for the boys in front of me.

Finally, in the pole vault, we had Roy Ribitzky first in 12’, and Cora Visnick and Katie Sandson taking 1-2 for the girls.

All-in-all it was a tremendous day for NS – filled with pride.

For some reason, the track and the performance of the team reminded me of the following poem, “The Touch of the Master’s Hand”. It was originally written by Myra Brooks Welch – anonymously in fact, for a church function. The singer/songwriter Laurie Lewis picked up on this, and set it to music. The metaphor of the violin for the human soul and god as the master is pretty clearly stated. To put a twist on it, I viewed the track as the violin and the team as the “master” – taking a battered old track and giving it wings to lift us to a higher place:

The Touch of the Master's Hand (Myra Brooks Welch)

It was battered and scarred, And the auctioneer thought it
Hardly worth his while
To waste his time on the old violin,
But he held it up with a smile.
"What am I bid, good people", he cried, "Who starts the bidding for me?"
"One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear two?"
"Two dollars, who makes it three?"
"Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three",

But, No, From the room far back a grey haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow,
Then wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody, pure and sweet,
As sweet as the angel sings.

The music ceased and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said "What now am I bid for this old violin?"
As he held it aloft with its' bow.
"One thousand, one thousand, Do I hear two?"
"Two thousand, Who makes it three?"
"Three thousand once, three thousand twice,
Going and gone", said he.

The audience cheered, But some of them cried,
"We just don't understand."
"What changed its' worth?" Swift came the reply.
"The Touch of the Masters Hand."

And many a man with life out of tune,
All battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd
Much like that old violin.
A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on.

He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone.
But the Master comes,
And the foolish crowd never can quite understand,
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the Touch of the Master's Hand.