A Spectacular Day at Jesse Owens Invitational

“Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition.” Jesse Owens, born just a stone’s throw from today’s venue, knew a lot about the value of events like today’s Jesse Owens Invitational. With nearly perfect weather, the teams enjoyed each other’s company and put forward spectacular efforts, with nearly universal lifetime best performances. 

 

The boys, with over 30 jammed into a 3-ft wide starting box, kicked things off with style, as their famous pre-race routine (“Yes, Bro, Yes”) motivated them and captivated onlookers. The team was led by senior Eli Galentino, but it was the team’s depth that carried them to a 7th place finish among 38 teams. Drew Zwerner and Clay Payne both nearly broke 18 minutes, and the varsity scorers benefited from breakout races from Simon Fox, Caspar Schmidt, Brandon Fonseca, and Drew Brackett, all breaking 19 minutes (all but Simon for the first time). There were too many time drops to mention, but particularly large improvements came from Dylan Omary, Paulo Saoud, Gryffin Anderson, Wright Bergesen, Shaw Fleming, Christopher Nichols, Aaron Raney, and Ray Nakagawa. 

 

The girls started their race as the boys ended theirs, and they performed every bit as well. Led once again by Madeleine Wiseman, the girls finished 5th of 16 teams. Madeleine’s 19:51 makes her the third fastest 5k runner in USN history (behind Samantha Mazer ‘04 and Auldyn Plant ‘23) and placed her 3rd in the race. Morgan McAteer wasn’t far behind in 13th, and then the team’s depth showed, with Olivia Hess, Grace Boero, and Jackie Seale all in the top 50. Norah Harrison, Adelaide Ritter, and Alice Frein also PR’ed, so it was a good day!

 

As the temperatures and leaves fall, so do our times, and sadly, so does our time together. The teams will next compete in a fun and fast relay race in Franklin on October 17th, then the Region championships on October 24th at Vaughn’s Creek in Percy Warner.