By Aidan Leary ’26
On Saturday, Mar. 7, the track and field team competed at the Meet of Champions at Gately Stadium. The Crusaders competed against 49 other teams and had a successful day. Records were broken, and the team improved greatly.
The top performances from the day were by senior Andrew Straley, senior Dan Speski, and freshman Charlie Cushing, who had a breakout race. Straley ran a school record time of 4:17 in the one mile, Speski came in first in the pole vault, and Cushing ran a 5:03 mile, which is one of the top times for a freshman so far this season for Brother Rice.
Straley qualified for the New Balance Nationals race next week in Boston and will be representing Brother Rice in the one mile. He is the second runner in Brother Rice history to do so.
Andrew reflected on his record breaking race: “It was a fun race, and I’m looking forward to next week in Boston.”
In the 800m, seniors Oliver Davis and Matt Hynes both had great races. Oliver ran a 2:09 and Matt ran a 2:10.
Davis is looking forward to the rest of the season after having a successful wrestling season: “I’m hoping to keep my momentum from wrestling going into track and having a good season.”
In the 3200m, junior Dylan Cody and sophomore Kieran McGarry both set new personal bests. Cody improved on his time from freshman year by 33 seconds, and McGarry improved on his time by a whole minute.
Cody was satisfied with his time but believes he can do better going forward: “I’m hoping to do even better than that time in the future, my goal is to improve in every event I participate in.”
The team is finishing up their indoor season, and then outdoor follows shortly after. The Crusaders are looking to make some noise these next few months.
