Matthew Orders
Apr 14, 2026
On April 8th, 2026, the Mercersburg Academy Boys and Girls Outdoor Track teams opened the season with the first home meet of the spring. With over a hundred athletes competing for the Storm, the excitement and joy was high!
Head Coach Nikki Walker explained, “We did great in the meet and we dominated the day. Everybody showed up and did their best. They were happy to give their best effort.” Ben Doyka, sprints and hurdle coach, added, “I think that it was really cool to see everyone rally behind all of the Mercersburg runners whenever they were on the track. It's fun to see them all stand and line up along the track and cheer everyone on, tell them their time, yell for them from across the track. But I think one of my favorite moments was watching the hurdlers go and to see them in action. We've been training a lot at the beginning of the season, and getting to see them run their first races of the season was really fun.”
As this meet became the first meet for some athletes on the team, some of the athletes participated in events they had not done before. Grant Wilkinson ’26 said, “I was lining up for 300 meter hurdles, a race I’ve never run before. Mark [Swetland ’27] hadn't either, so we were saying that we'd get through it together, and I got a personal record in the 300 hurdles too!”
Assistant Running Coach Mariana Manzo explained, “Our athletes really went out there and tried out something different. Some of them are not interested in trying out the mile but really liked it, which was really great to see. Also, it was nice how everyone just adapted to the event they
were put into without any idea what the event was. I appreciate their flexibility.”
With a lot of people filling up the track, there were numerous highlights during the meet. Liam Beighley ’26 recalled his highlights during the meet: “I think it's a good start and the team looked very promising in both events as well. In the mile, I think Chris [Carbone ’26] did great. He stayed up with me for most of it and ended up matching his PR. I think a lot of the freshmen, like Kaden [Yang ’29] also did well. I think he also stood out in the meet. Siyuan [Wan ’27], I think he did great too, especially fixing his form over these last few days. I think he has a lot of promising potential.”
Chris Carbone ‘26 added, “In the 1600 meters, we had a lot more competition than I was expecting. So it was nice to run in a better, faster field of runners. It definitely pushed me to run faster so I could feel very strong, controlled, and my form was also very good. It was a very strong and very fun race. Also, I was happy I got to run behind Liam because he's a really experienced runner.”
As the outdoor season opened up again and brought strong passion and love of the track and field, Walker explained the Mercersburg outdoor track and field team’s goal: “I just want everybody to give their best every day, finding small improvements each week. And hopefully by May 9th, we are able to win the MAPL.”