(Photos & Video by Mark Zimmaro)
BY MARK ZIMMARO
WYNNEWOOD, PA-- The Tigers are back on top.
The Germantown Friends School girls and boys track teams both captured Friends School League titles on Saturday.
The rain was on and off throughout the day, but the Tigers remained focused on their goal. The Germantown Friends boys team successfully defended its Friends League title with 202 points and won its 21st overall in 40 years of competition. The girls team ended host Friends Central’s five-year stranglehold on the event by reclaiming the crown for the first time since 2015. The raindrops felt pretty good once the medals were handed out.
“We’re not really a tent team,” said Tigers junior distance runner Simon Donovan with a laugh. “We have one small tent and we’ll stand with umbrellas. But I think the weather really made us tougher and made us more excited to run.”
Germantown Friends actually trailed George School through 16 of the 18 events but Donovan and the Tigers knew their strength was still to come in the 3,200-meter run.
“We knew it was coming pretty close into the two-mile so just getting a couple guys in the two-mile and showing the business was really good,” Donovan said. “We wanted to show everyone what we could do in the two mile.”
Donovan won the event in 10:26.88, followed by teammates Shuford Kirk and Jiasheng Shi for a Tigers 1-2-3 finish. It swung Germantown Friends in front and they finished it off with a first-place finish in the 4x400 meter relay.
Germantown Friends had already banked Donovan’s win in the 1,600, as well as a pair of victories by Graham Greene in the 200-meter dash and the 300 intermediate hurdles. Sam Butler took gold in the 400-meter dash and in the 4x800 relay also finished on top. Each victory made the next group work harder.
“There’s just good vibes when you get here and the whole team is behind you and I think we were really able to put that together,” said Butler, who was also part of the winning 4x400 relay. “Everyone was backing each other and that felt really good.”
Friends Schools League Track & Field Championships. (video highlights by Mark Zimmaro for PSD)
Germantown Friends School's Sam Butler takes home gold in FSL Championship. (video/Mark Zimmaro)
In the boys’ competition, there were several notable performances, especially from George School which finished with 184 points. Namusende Makatiani was the lone triple-winner in individual events, taking first in the long jump, triple jump and 110 high hurdles. His long jump of 20 feet, 4.25 inches was the longest Friends League leap in 10 years. Elijah Smith was a double-winner with victories in the high jump and shot put. The 4x100 team of Mark Michael, Paul Roesch, Dante Ndeta and Alspencer Omondi set a meet record with a time of 43.98.
On the girls’ side, Friends’ Central actually won the most events by taking seven first-place finishes. But Germantown Friends’ depth was on display as the Tigers won six events and accumulated many valuable second and third-place finishes. Germantown Friends racked up 197 team points and was able to breathe pretty easily in the final few events having the meet wrapped up. George School took second with 111 points, just ahead of Friends’ Central, which had 108.
Germantown Friends School senior Annika Marcelis shines in the 2-mile. (video/ Mark Zimmaro)
Germantown Friends School's Anna MacDonald talks about winning as a senior. (video/Mark Zimmaro)
“We obviously still put in a good effort in the last few events, but our coach was keeping us posted about how it was going so we could keep a good gauge,” said senior distance runner Anna MacDonald. “It was really cool to see everyone out in a lot of work and get the girls title this year.”
MacDonald won the 1,600 while her teammate Annika Marcelis won the 3,200. Marcelis was followed by Katya Henisz and Emma Nam as the Tigers also won the girls’ two-mile with a 1-2-3 finish. Both MacDonald and Marcelis defended their titles in their respective individual events.
Friends’ Central didn’t go down without a fight. It won the 4x400 and 4x800 relays and won five individual events including two by Micah Trusty, who took home the 200 and 800. Trusty’s time of 2:10.48 broke her own meet record by three seconds set last year.
George School was led by thrower Aimee Oszer, who scored wins in the javelin and discus, successfully defending her league title in both events.
Per usual, the Friends School League championships brought out the best of its competitors.
Germantown Friends School's Simon Donovan talks about his team's resilience in any weather. (video/ Mark Zimmaro)
“Just being able to show what we’ve been training for these last couple of months was really exciting today,” Donovan said. “Getting out here and having some fun and just racing is what allowed us to win today. Seeing our hard work come to fruition is a really great thing."
