On Saturday, April 23rd, the 62nd running of Deerfield’s Hunt Relays brought eleven teams from around New England to Deerfield Academy after a three-year hiatus; fortunately, it also brought our first real taste of beautiful spring weather to the track. In attendance were Andover, Bement, Cushing, Eaglebrook, Hotchkiss, Loomis Chaffee, Northfield Mount Hermon, Pomfret, Wilbraham & Monson, and Williston Northampton.
The Hunt Relays, run in honor of longtime Deerfield Track & Field coach Mo Hunt (who once finished second in the Big Ten Hurdles to a legend named Jesse Owens – thanks for the history, Mr. Brush!), are a non-scoring, developmental meet meant to inspire sportsmanship and the pursuit of team excellence. In that spirit, every event is a relay, with track events taking the form of traditional baton relays, and field events comprised of marks accrued by groups of 3 and 4 jumpers, vaulters, and throwers. With so many athletes and spectators in attendance, the atmosphere was lively on Saturday as Deerfield kicked off a short, three-week home season.
Due to Deerfield having a large boys team this year, each athlete participated in a single event, with only a pair of seniors and a sophomore competing in multiple events during the day. Relay teams performed well throughout the day. Deerfield Boys relay teams placed 7th in the 4×400 Meters, 4th in the Pole Vault and the 4×200 Meters, 3rd in the Javelin, Long Jump, 4×800 Meters and the Distance Medley Relay, 2nd in the Junior Distance Medley Relay and the Junior 4×200 Meters, and 1st in the High Jump, Shot Put, Discus, and 4×100 Meters. Team performances won the day in every event!
The highlight of the afternoon came during the 4×100 Meter Relay. In that event, Nick Peltekian, Alex Haight, Christian Reavis and Elic Ayomanor combined on a historic 42.64 second circuit of the track, smashing not only the existing school record of 43.455, set in 2021, but also the meet record of 42.80, set by Berkshire Academy in 2013. The relay team will follow up on their performance with a run at the Penn Relay Carnival in Philadelphia on Friday. We’ll be watching eagerly for that result!
Deerfield returns to the home track this Saturday, April 30, at 2:30 p.m., for a meet against Loomis Chaffee and Hotchkiss, this time with scoring included.