Belmont High's Carey Finishes Career at New Englands

Andrew Carey's Belmont High School running career came to an end without a new personal record in the 800 meters or a top ten finish at the New England Track and Field meet in Connecticut.

His one minute, 58.3 second time raced last Saturday placed him 16^th in the two-lap distance.

But the Marauder took the race at the prestigious meet that brings together the best track athletes from across New England to race, jump and throw.

"Despite the unimpressive showing, I was very content with the way the season ended. After all, had I done this two weeks ago, I would've been ecstatic," Carey said.

That's because Carey didn't break the two minute barrier until late in the season, and then began breaking his best time in the event by several seconds in an race where improving by fraction of seconds is considered impressive.

In the lead up to New England, Carey saw his personal best drop from around two minutes to an impressive 1:55.88 at the All-State meeting in Westfield, a time which qualified him to run this weekend.

While hoping for a similar race as his PR performance a week earlier, Carey's preparation for the finals was set back by a late spring rainstorm.

"What killed me, I think, were the delays," said Carey of the bad weather that came through the race area.

"I thought my race was going to go off at 12:30 p.m. so I ate at 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. Unfortunately, due to rain, and just a slow meet in general, I ran at around 3 p.m. I didn't feel as energized as I usually do," he said.

Carey, who ran in the last heat that included all the top-flight runners, said the race was much like the one he ran at All-States. The first lap pace was blistering, with the pack going out at 55 seconds with some frontrunners rocketing off in 53 seconds.

But unlike the previous week, Carey couldn't hold on.

"The pace seemed uncomfortable and I slipped," said Carey, finishing 16^th.

Carey will continue to run this summer – he is doing distance training before racing the Brendan Grant 5K this Sunday, June 20 – entering events as long as 10 kilometers or 6.2 miles.

The university he's attending in the fall, The George Washington University in Washington DC, doesn't have a track team so he'll either run by himself or join a club.

But before giving up the track for good, Carey has some unfinished business to take care of, specifically lowering his best time in the mile.

He is considering entering the Bentley Twilight meet in Waltham because his current four minute, 40 second personal record "has to go."