Baldwin School’s indoor track team enjoys record-setting season
The Baldwin School’s varsity indoor track 4×800, 4×400 and 4×200 relay team of junior Myla Barnett, senior Jen Dietrich, junior Absara Irgau and freshman Acey Pratt had a highly successful and historic winter season for the Polar Bears.
Baldwin competed at Nationals for the first time in program history in those three events, and the Polar Bears won two relay medals at States for the first time in program history.
The Baldwin 4×400 relay team was ranked as high as No. 2 in the state and No. 6 in the nation. The Polar Bears’ 4×800 relay achieved a No. 3 state ranking. The 4×400 and 4×800 relay teams also earned All-State honors.
The Baldwin indoor track team, coached by Ije Iheoma (who ran track for Penn State University) and assisted by Dashera Richardson (who competed in track for Delaware State University), finished 17th overall at States, competing against more than 500 public and private schools.
Dietrich, who has committed to Bucknell University on a track & field scholarship, earned a fourth-place medal in the invitational section of the 400 meter run at the Hispanic Games Jan. 7 at The Armory in New York City, with a season’s best time of 59.1.
At the New Balance Games at The Armory in New York Jan. 21, the 4×400 relay team set a new school record of 3:54.25 and won the silver medal. They broke the previous school record by more than four seconds.
The Polar Bears’ 4×400 relay team then placed third (3:55) at the Armory Track Invitational Feb. 3 in New York.
At the Meet of Champions Feb. 17 at Lehigh University, Baldwin’s 4×800 relay team finished third overall and ran a personal record time of 9:37.22, which qualified them for nationals. The 4x400m team finished third overall with a time of 4:02.64, and Dietrich finished sixth in the 400 meter run with a time of 59.67.
At the Pennsylvania State Championship at Penn State University Feb. 25, Baldwin finished in 17th place overall out of 65 public and private schools that qualified. The 4×800 relay team won a third place bronze medal with a school record time of 9:21.7, and the Baldwin 4×400 relay team won a fourth-place medal with a clocking of 3:55.2.
The Baldwin indoor track squad finished its season at the New Balance Nationals at The Armory March 11-12, and the Polar Bears’ 4×800 relay team finished in 11th place (out of 31 qualifying schools) with a time of 9:22.77, while the 4×400 relay team ran a 3:59 (28th place). Pratt ran a 59.95 in the freshman 400 meter race and placed 19th out of 50 qualifying runners.
