The Chatham Cougars boys' and girls' track teams both won a meet on Thursday afternoon at Cougar Field against the Madison Dodgers after the teams established a lead early, rendering Madison unable to catch up. The boys won, 90-50, while the girls prevailed 88-47.
Chatham senior Kat Grimes and Madison junior Melissa Iskandar, both leaders on their teams, squared off twice, in the 1600 meter and the 800 meter events. Grimes came out on top in both.
"Before the [1600] race, I thought I'll just sit on here and see how I feel, and then push on the last lap," said Grimes. "But the wind was with me, so I decided to take it, and didn't look back."
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For the boys mile, sophomore Anthony Malatesta of Chatham, sophomore Jack Mahoney of Madison and senior Jack Beecher of Chatham were at the front of the pack and all finished within a few seconds of one another, with Malatesta coming in first with a time of 4:46.8, Mahoney taking second with a 4:47.8 finish and Beecher taking third with his time of 4:48.3.
"Mahoney is my age, and he runs the same times as me," said Malatesta. "He is a real challenge, and I barely beat him."
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Beecher went on to take first in the 3200 meter event, with the only sub-11 minute 3200 of the day. His final time was 10:41.
"I stuck behind Greg [Zitelli, of Madison], for the first mile, then pushed it in the second mile," said Beecher. "The two mile was comfortable today."
Junior Katie Hurt took first for the Chatham girls in the 400 meter hurdle event with a finish of 71.3 seconds to edge out Gabby Rojas of Madison, who finished in 71.9 seconds.
"It's the best I've done this season," said Hurt. "And it was two seconds off my personal best, so I'm happy with that."
Chatham girls' coach Terence Ferguson was especially impressed with long jumpers Lucy Wardley, Kathleen Ughetta and Kim Teschemaker who took first, second, and third, all jumping over 14 feet.
"The long-jumpers were a big success … last week, no one was over 13 feet," said Ferguson.
With the wins, the Chatham girls improve to 3-0 and the boys to 2-0-1. Their next meet will be on Saturday, April 10, at the Dodgertown races in Madison. Twelve teams are expected to compete.
Highlights
Andrew Mudget, Boys 400 Hurdles, 62.2 seconds, first place
Katie Hurt, Girls 400 Hurdles, 71.3 seconds, first place
Larry Haye, Boys 100 Meter, 11.9 seconds, first place
Emily Hoffman, Girls 100 Meter, 14 seconds, first place
Emily Hoffman, Girls 200 Meter, 29.3 seconds, first place
Anthony Malatesta, Boys 1600 Meter, 4:46.8 minutes, first place
Kat Grimes, Girls 1600 Meter, 5:30 minutes, first place
Kat Grimes, Girls 800 Meter, 2:26 minutes, first place
Lachlan Davis, Boys 400 Meter, 51.6 seconds, first place
Lachlan Davis, Boys 200 Meter, 24.7 seconds, first place
Julie Williamson, Girls 400 Meter, 63.9 seconds, first place
Steven Bangs, Boys 100 Hurdles, 16.8 seconds, first place
Jake Neumann, Boys Shot-Put, 42 feet, 2 ¾ inch, first place
Jack Beecher, Boys 3200 Meter, 10:41 minutes, first place
