The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) girls and boys indoor track and field teams earned second place out of seven teams at the Eastern Athletic Conference meet on Friday. The meet, held at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Roxbury, was the last of the season, but one of the most powerful performances the track and field team has delivered. The boys team earned 74 points and the girls earned 82 points, coming in second behind the denser powerhouse of Bishop Feehan, which fielded over 120 runners.
The girls team was sparse in numbers, with only seven girls competing, but proved to have depth of talent in achieving multiple conference-champion titles. Senior Pearl Vercruysse dominated two distance events, winning first-place titles and breaking MVRHS records in both the mile and the two-mile run, in times of 5:24.38 and 11:52.63 respectively.
Second-year senior captain Olivia Smith leaped to first place in the long jump with a distance of 16 feet, 7 inches. Ms. Smith also took a second in the 55 hurdles with a time of 9.29. Sophomore Mackenzie Condon won first in the 55 hurdles with a time of 9.06, and jumped 4 feet, 10 inches, to earn second place in the high jump. Sophomore Addy Hayman sprinted her way to a school record in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.96.
The boys team also impressed, proving to be strong in many areas of the competition. Senior captain Nevin Wallis won conference-champion titles in both the high jump, with a height of 5 feet, 6 inches, and the 600-meter run, in a time of 1:27.35. Nathaniel Packer broke the school record and earned a conference title in the shot put with a sizable throw of 40 feet, 3 inches. Junior Otto Osmers (two-mile, 10:95.05), and senior captain Nick Bonneau (55 hurdles, 8.98) placed second.
“This was a big step up for our program,” Vineyard Coach Joe Schroeder wrote in an email to the Times.
Members of the boys and girls track and field teams that have qualified for the State Division 5 Championship meet will return to Reggie Lewis on Friday, Feb. 17, to compete.
Mackenzie Condon is a high school sports reporter for the Times. She is a sophomore at MVRHS and runs on the indoor track and field team.
