Harwood Track gets outside at Burlington meet
April 9, 2022 | By Andrew Reid
The Harwood Track and Field team competed in their first meet Tuesday, April 5, at Burlington High School. Led by senior captains Jonah Busker, Ben White, Alice Lindsay, Cameron Merchant and Britta Zetterstrom as well as seven other returning seniors, the Highlanders set a tone of personal success and lots of potential for growth throughout the season.
The Division II Harwood girls placed 6th in a competitive field of many Division I athletes. In the first event of the day, the 4x800 meter relay, Charlie Flint (11), Rowan Clough (10), Aliza Levey (12), and Britta Zetterstrom started the competitive season off with a 3rd place finish with a time of 11:09.21.
In the 1500m run, Britta (5:20.94) and Charlie (5:22.54) continued to demonstrate success in the distance events with 4th and 5th place finishes. Later in the day, Britta (2:37.39) placed 3rd in 800m run and Charlie claimed victory in the 3000m run with a time of 13:32.45 followed by Rowan Clough( 14:12.9) in 8th.
Senior Aliza Levey set personal records, a faster time than any past season, in both the 1500 (5:53.47) and the 800 (2:53.11), setting the tone for a great season of continued improvement and contributions to both the team relay and individual events.
Finally, the lone Harwood 9th grader on the day, Heidi Heraldsen, stepped on to the track as a varsity athlete for her first time competing fiercely in the 100m dash (15.85s), the 200m dash (35.71), 400m dash (1:20.68).
On the boys side, Harwood brought a small squad to compete due to some early season illness. Ben White (12) and Hunter Bove (10) competed in the 100m dash with times of 15.52s and 12.86s respectively, that are within striking distance of the State Meet 12.5s qualifying time on their first outing.
Also in the sprints, senior Quinn von Recklinghausen competed in the 100m dash (14.42) and through shot put with a distance of 6.27m. Seniors Jonathon Hamel (5:40.6) and Jonah Busker (5:49.41) each set personal records in the 1500m run, an excellent start for the season and exciting for their role in the distance squad this season.
The boys look forward to Tuesday's meet, April 12, at Champlain Valley Union with a squad returned to full strength.
Andrew Reid is head coach for Harwood Track & Field.