As the school year draws to a close, the Belmont Hill track and field team finished out an impressive season in their two championship meets, ISTAs and NEPSTAs. After facing defeat at the hands of Exeter, the team was eager to bounce back. Seeded first in both competitions, Belmont Hill was poised for a commanding victory over even their closest opponents, including Tabor and Thayer. After a solid week of training, the athletes were poised for success. Journeying down to Tabor for the ISL championship, Belmont Hill battled intensely for every point in every event, eventually winning by a margin of 44.5 points. Notable performances included F.A.T school records by Isaiah Collins in the 100-meter dash and by Evan Ricci in the 300-meter hurdles.
Following up their victory with another week of grueling practice, the Belmont Hill Track and Field Team then made the onerous trek to Williston Northampton in western Massachusetts for the Division II NEPSTAs. Once again, the boys in blue would prevail, attaining a whopping 53 point lead by the end of the meet. This massive lead was thanks in part to exceptional performances by John Pappo and Quin McGaugh in both the 800 and 1500 meter races. In an exciting twist, Belmont Hill’s 4×400-meter relay team, comprised of all seniors, closed out its season with a third place finish, 4 places above its seed.
The win marked Belmont Hill’s fourth consecutive year with the title, shadowed only by an impressive 20th straight victory at NEPSTAs by the Thayer girl’s team. Furthermore, after doing some calculations, Ray Hunt and Evan Ricci concluded that Belmont Hill would have won Division I NEPSTAs as well. The dominance of the 2017 Belmont Hill track and field team was truly special and may be unreplicatable in the years to come.
