Harding Athletic Highlights 4/11-4/15
Varsity Girls Lacrosse vs. Woodland Lacrosse Club
Harding Academy girls' lacrosse played Woodland on Wednesday. Gracie Meriwether, Lauren Sullivan, Emerson Smith, and Lexie Lampka all recorded goals for the Hawks. Neko Mannes, Susan McCarley and Narcissa Smith held down the defensive unit. Adah Malone, Margaux Brown, and Ella Jones made their varsity debut. The Hawks are back in action next Wednesday, April 20 for a HVAC playoff game. The game will be played at Sohr at 4:15. Come support the team!
Varsity Baseball (4/11-4/15)
The Hawks faced their local rivals on Thursday in a matchup against MBA. Pitchers Benton Wright and Eli Russ kept the MBA offense at bay tossing 3 competitive innings each. Camden Haren had a stellar day at the plate drawing 2 walks and scoring twice while also showcasing his impressive glove at second base. Will Bickley got the offense going in the 2nd inning with a 2-out RBI base hit. The Hawks were on the offensive again in the 4th inning with Thomas Hicks collecting 2 RBIs that included staying in a rundown until both runners scored. The Hawks ended up falling to MBA with a final of 11-3. They'll look to bounce back in their final league game on Wednesday, April 20 at home against USN.
Frigid Track Meet at Ensworth
Back
Harding Academy girls' lacrosse played Woodland on Wednesday. Gracie Meriwether, Lauren Sullivan, Emerson Smith, and Lexie Lampka all recorded goals for the Hawks. Neko Mannes, Susan McCarley and Narcissa Smith held down the defensive unit. Adah Malone, Margaux Brown, and Ella Jones made their varsity debut. The Hawks are back in action next Wednesday, April 20 for a HVAC playoff game. The game will be played at Sohr at 4:15. Come support the team!
Varsity Baseball (4/11-4/15)
The Hawks faced their local rivals on Thursday in a matchup against MBA. Pitchers Benton Wright and Eli Russ kept the MBA offense at bay tossing 3 competitive innings each. Camden Haren had a stellar day at the plate drawing 2 walks and scoring twice while also showcasing his impressive glove at second base. Will Bickley got the offense going in the 2nd inning with a 2-out RBI base hit. The Hawks were on the offensive again in the 4th inning with Thomas Hicks collecting 2 RBIs that included staying in a rundown until both runners scored. The Hawks ended up falling to MBA with a final of 11-3. They'll look to bounce back in their final league game on Wednesday, April 20 at home against USN.
Frigid Track Meet at Ensworth
Our first meet was cold...this one was much colder. On some days, just competing can be considered a "win," regardless of the results. That was the situation at the track meet on Friday, April 8 at Ensworth. After just a few attempts during the field events, I became concerned that our HA athletes were not going to be tough enough to hold up under the increasingly colder weather and wind. I began thinking the day was going to be an absolute lost cause.
However, for whatever reason, these kids pulled it together (and literally came together...under blankets...to stay warm) and did their job. We do not want track and field to be a "job," but that's what it became on Friday. Sometimes you just have to get the job done and look forward to more preferential days.
However, for whatever reason, these kids pulled it together (and literally came together...under blankets...to stay warm) and did their job. We do not want track and field to be a "job," but that's what it became on Friday. Sometimes you just have to get the job done and look forward to more preferential days.
Good performances were rare, but with a fast-running meet, a swirling and/or head-on wind, and the cold, I was overall more than satisfied with our effort. The kids toughed it out and most were able to run the events in which they were entered. We let kids leave early this meet (after they finished their events) because of the weather, but I was very very proud that only a few kids left early (for good reasons).
So, when I push athletes to try to run their events they are entered - even in poor weather - it is my hope that they will also be able to persevere and even embrace situations when the circumstances are more favorable.
Performance highlights of the meet:
The personal bests were rare for this meet and all the running events were manually timed (rather than auto-timed), so the accuracy of an athlete's time may not be as high as it would be from an auto-timed event. So, for the most part, I will just refer to performances (rather than times) unless the time was a personal best.
Quincy Topping '22 was able to rejoin us for practice this week, after having injured himself in our previous meet. Quincy nearly ran a personal best for 400-meters...except he was running the 800-meters. Quincy's PB in the 400 is 62-seconds; the first lap of his 800 was in 65-seconds. Because he is still recovering from injury, Quincy slowed down the 2nd lap and still clocked a PB of 2:26 in the 800 and also won the race.
Charlotte Mikos '22 is on a winning streak in the girl's 100-meter hurdles as she has now won 2 races in a row. Charlotte also ran a PB by over a half-second (which is a lot in a sprint race) by running 18.49-seconds. With a better start and a few subtle changes, I think Charlotte can break 18-seconds for this race.
Hilary Fremont '24, Hudson Drake '22, and Judge Murphy '23 all ran really well in their first 1600-meter race of the year and competed fiercely near the end of the race.
Carter Floyd '22 came out to the meet after very few practice sessions with the track team (lacrosse responsibilities) and ran a blistering leg on the girl's 4x100 team, then came back and ran a personal best in the 400-meters (72.8-seconds). Carter was leading the race with about 150-meters to go. With some additional practice and experience "pacing" for the 400-meters, Carter can run under 69-seconds and compete for an all-conference award at the HVAC meet.
In the girl's 100-meters, all three entries set a PB, with Leah Fremont '22 running 15.34, Semipe Adejumobi '22 running 16.41, and Savannah Fitzgerald '24 running 21.32.
Inspiring The Mind • Nurturing The Spirit