This weekend was the 66th running of the Longstreth Relays at Western Reserve Academy. Three years ago, after a a multi-year hiatus, the event was revamped to include more individual events, offering a more competitive atmosphere with greater involvement. Despite tough weather conditions (winds gusting over 20mph), there were some very notable performances.
WRA Senior Captain Jada Kenner dominated the 100m, taking home the gold. Kenner also anchored the 400m leg of the sprint medley in grand fashion, overcoming a 8m deficit to propel the team to victory. The members of that relay team were junior Mia Maze-Ingram, senior Lea Carino and sophomore Makayla Riles.
This win came on the heels of first place finish by the 4x100m relay team with a fast time of 51.54. Kenner, Carino, and Riles all also ran this race with junior Hanna Chen rounding out the group.
Longstreth was Jada Kenner's final meet in the WRA stadium. To date, Kenner owns the school's 200m outdoor track record and has been part of 3 record-setting outdoor track relays (4x100, sprint medley and 4x200). She will be going after the 100m and 400m records in the remaining weeks of the season.
New junior standout sprinter Hanna Chen continues to make a name for herself. Chen had a solid 2nd place finish in the 200m, running a personal best time. At Longstreth, the 200m is a named event in honor of late alum Kirsten Gauthier.
Junior Addie LeVan won the 800m and took 2nd in the 1600m, tying her personal best in these windy conditions.
Freshman standout James Johnston took 5th in a fast field in the 1600m.
Junior Elias Vail won the 200m in a PR time of 23.26.
The boys 4x800 team of Senior Captain Carter Fleming, James Johnston, junior Nicholas Iteka and freshman Jack Trook took 2nd overall.
A special thank you is in order for those faculty and staff members who helped make the event a success. Long-time faculty member and track coach Jeff Warner served as the line-judge. Head Coach Erik Chaput served as the meet director. Scores of WRA faculty and staff, including Lisabeth Robinson, Ralph Bormann, Diccon Ong, Hannah Barry, Tara Bowen, Caitlyn Schooner and Eric Miller contributed their time to make the meet run smoothly. Thank you, all.