Noah Shelton Sports Reporter
Lions’ Race To Third At Championships Despite 23 points from junior sprinter Philip Batler, the boys’ varsity indoor track and field team finished third in the Dual County League Championship meet on Saturday. The team was unable to secure its fourth DCL championship in a row. “There was definitely some disappointment with not walking away with the win, but overall people seemed to drop that [feeling] pretty quickly,” Batler said. “We had a meeting where the captains encouraged us that outdoor [track] will be a much better season.” Newton South finished with 80.5 points, 17.5 points behind ActonBoxborough's winning 98 points. South was led by Batler’s 23 points, which he earned from winning the boys’ 300 meter dash, placing second in the boys’ 55 meter hurdles, and taking fourth in the boys’ 55 meter dash. Runners at the championship meet earn ten points for finishing first in a specific event, eight for second, seven for third, and so on all the way down to one point for taking eighth. Batler was not favored to win the 300 meter dash, which the veteran sprinter used to his advantage. “[Not being favored] gave me the inside lane to the top seed, so I could use him to pace me and just keep his speed. [I waited] until I got a good chance to pull ahead,” Batler said. Two other runners senior captain Ben Cooper and junior Jake Epstein also scored in the 300 meter. Cooper ran a 37.39 300 meter to secure three points, while Epstein added one point with a 38.30 300 meter. The freshmansophomore tandem made up of Noah Whiting and Gal Fudim placed fifth and seventh respectively in the boys onemile run. Fudim had a positive outlook on the future. “We're both fast and continuously getting faster,” Fudim said. “Yesterday was our first race against each other, and we used each other to really control the race and push ourselves.” The field events also added crucial points. In the high jump, junior Anthony DeNitto added five points to South’s total with a 5’ 9” jump. Fellow high jumper and football teammate, sophomore Austin Burton, added 3.5 points with a 5’7” jump. Denitto was not done with his scoring though, as he added four more points in the shot put ring, throwing for 41’ 10.5”. Despite his injury, DeNitto still was able to be a key contributor. “I was a little too hesitant in the long jump, which resulted in two faults and a bad jump. I had a good day in the shot put, [setting a personal record] by two feet, and I felt pretty good about my high jump.” The 4x800 meter relay team, consisting of senior captain Ben Weingart, junior Dan RosenzweigZiff, and sophomores Pete Wise and Gal Fudim, took home six points. After a late substitution, the team was not expected to place highly.
“Coach put together a bunch of distance guys and one sprinter with the hopes of getting not last, maybe sixth. But nobody wanted to race like a wuss, so when Pete was put in for Noah [Whiting] we all took it out strong and got third overall,” anchor Gal Fudim said. The boys’ 4x800 meter relay was just one of the three relays that placed third overall, as the 4x200 meter relay, led by seniors Noah Shuster and Ben Cooper, and juniors Jake Epstein and Dongyun Kim, in addition to the 4x400 meter in which Cooper and Epstein doubled, medaled as well. Burton and junior Nelson Merino ran with Cooper and Epstein to make up the 4x400 relay, which took third by just .06 seconds. “It's especially hard [to not win the championship] as a captain because the failure is all on me. Getting to see past captains see success, and the joy that follows makes it even more bitter,” Weingart said after the meet. This loss did not seem to get him down, but rather it motivated him to win DCLs in the spring. “[Our goal is] to take back the DCL title and go for a division title,” he said.