This spring track season has shown incredible turnout in the quantity and quality of runners. The athletes have worked tirelessly to first qualify for and then place at prestigious meets, beating long-established school records in their respective events. 

On the weekend of May 2, 2023, the team broke various records at the coveted Fairchester Athletic Association Track Invitational, at our own Masters campus. Scrolling through the meet’s website displaying the meet’s results, viewers are met with a sea of “The Masters School,” filling first, second, and third place spots across the board. 

More recently, at the May 6 FAA Invitational, Masters placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the men’s 100m, with excellent times from runners Jake Mason, Demi Oni and Nicholas Lusardi, respectively. Accordingly, the trio is going to New Balance Nationals for the men’s 100m—a truly impressive feat given the quality of runners who will attend the meet, with track all-stars competing against Masters students.

On May 6, Masters also placed second, third, fourth, and fifth place in the men’s 200m, 3rd in the men’s 800m, 2nd in the 4 by 400, and 4th in the ultra-competitive men’s 400m. 

“The track team has some of its biggest numbers to date in members this year—[it’s] an absolutely massive team and we’re having one of our most successful years in over a decade. In our last weekend (May 6th) we were running champs, and in multiple events the boys scored many points and the girls also scored a few. Our boys came third in the league, girls came 7th. And the boys swept all the points for the one hundred meter dash,”Toby Freeman ‘24, a member of the track team since his freshman year, said.

Among the team’s most accomplished runners is August Liu ‘23, who has run on the team only since his junior year. Liu set the school record for the men’s 1500 meter with a time of 4:26.43 at the May 6 FAA meet, and despite his comparatively short running career, has distinguished himself as one of the fastest runners on the team.

“I ran track junior year but not seriously because I needed to fill a requirement for graduation. During Covid, I just thought it was something I had to get through but when I started running it was more so the cross country season this year,” Liu said. “It might be surprising for many people, because I ran a 7-minute mile at the start of this year, which is really slow – I was the slowest on the team. But now, I might have become the best runner for the Masters School overall, because I broke some school records,” he continued.

Track is often considered a largely independent sport, with accomplishments measured by individual runners, rather than by the overall team’s success. However, Liu has not overlooked the importance of genuine collaboration and admits that true success is a reflection of both independent and collective effort.

“Everything is in your own control, you control the pace, how fast you run, how long you run. The more you dedicate the more you grow. At the same time, I look up to some people, like Aidan Lothian from last year, and Gene Perry from eight years ago. I never saw them running, but I know they’re fast. I was thinking, ‘maybe one day I’ll pass them.’ Looking up to them gives me energy and motivation that makes me run faster and run more,” Liu said.
Overall, runners can attest that the Masters Track Team has fostered an environment that has paved the way for such stories as August’s, promoting progress, dedication, and hard work over all else. 

“I think track has given me one of the most extremely positive outcomes of anything I’ve done in Masters. I’ve gained the most friends from all grades.  I met some of my favorite people from track and made my best relationships during three seasons of running,” Freeman said.