“Going into the indoor season, I didn’t even expect to be on the four by eight… then at the the Dogwood Meet we got a really really freaking good time and it kind of led to us thinking we could really win this,” junior Ben Gersbach said.

Last year Gersbach, senior Zach Gentry, sophomore Noah Smith, and Ryan Thomas (‘14) won the State championship for the 4×800 meter event with a time of 7:53. “States was pretty awesome last year, we won the four by eight and this year I think we can step up and make a strong appearance back at States,” senior Zach Gentry said. Last year Gentry also ran the two mile race and got fourth place in the state with a time of 9:31.72.

“Last year we were like ‘we can make it to States but we can’t win,’ then our coach Adrian was like ‘I think you guys can win this,’ and he usually always says that but this time I think he actually meant it,” Gersbach said. “We didn’t really realize [he meant it] until we almost qualified for the Penn Relays by two seconds.”

“Last year we were really fortunate and had a few chances to run the four by eight and really get into the season,” Gentry said. This year however, Gersbach has had to deal with shin splints and tendonitis in both of his knees. Because of his injuries Gersbach sat out the entire indoor track season. Like Gersbach, Gentry has been dealing with shin splints, but missed the majority of the indoor track season due to Lymes disease. “I only raced in two meets in indoor, the first meet of the season and then the two mile event at States,” Gentry said. Despite having Lymes disease Gentry still placed second in the state in the two mile with a time of 9:33.20.

This season the 4×800 crew is also looking for a replacement for Ryan Thomas, who graduated last year and is currently running at Columbia University. As of now it seems like senior Dave Kwiatkowski will be filling that gap Thomas left behind.

Sophomore Kathryn Mayo also ran in the State meet last year and placed first overall in the girls 800 meter event with a time of 2:15.65. “[States] was really exciting last year, I was the only girl from Albemarle to go to States last year but it was really fun to go with the guys from the team,” Mayo said.

“My coaches wouldn’t even tell me where I was seeded. I was seeded second but with 200 [meters] to go I took the lead and pr’d [personal record],” Mayo said. This year Mayo will not be the only girl as the 4×800 relay that she runs on has qualified as well.

The girls’ 4×800 crew consists of Mayo, freshman Kenzie Lloyd, sophomore Lauren Hughlett, and freshman Ryan Helmers. Unlike the boys 4×800 everyone is healthy and injury free. “Our team is a lot younger this year so we have a lot of new talent, and so it’s really exciting that we’ll have more girls and boys going to States this year,” Mayo said. Mayo has already qualified to run in the 800 again this year and the 4×800 has already hit their qualifying time as well, but Mayo hopes that more girls will qualify individually. “We still have the regional meet to run, so even if they don’t qualify with their times as long as they place sixth or better at regionals they can still make it.”

For the sprinters, senior Kevin McCarthy went to States last year for the 4×100, the 4×400, and the 200 meter. McCarthy also went to nationals with the 4×100 crew, which included Vincent Huynh (14’), senior Moses Boamah, and junior Arun Turay. Huynh, who graduated last year, has been replaced by junior Noah Gregory.

At States last year McCarthy placed 11th in the 200 meter, 13th in the 4×100, and 10th in the 4×400. “States was a great experience last year and I’m looking forward to going again this year,” McCarthy said.

Boys’ track just placed first at the conference meet this past weekend beating out Halifax by one and a half points. The girls’ team placed second second and are looking forward to the regional meet on May 26 and 27 at the UVA track.