Last Sunday, June 18, the RHS boy's track relay team of Isaac Graber, Ethan Walls, Magnus Manley, and Steven Hergenrother won a National title in the Distance Relay at the New Balance National Outdoor Track & Field Competition. The event took place at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, PA.
According to RPS social media post, Junior Hergenrother ran the anchor leg in a blistering-fast, come-from-behind 4.01 minute-mile. "This is the team's third title in six years and a school record, which is also the second all-time fastest distance relay in Connecticut history."
New Balance said, "Connecticut is a relatively small state but held its own on the national stage in the world of high school track and field."
They went on to say, "Ridgefield had Steven Hergenrother on anchor and he gradually ate into the lead. But what happened on the last lap was nothing less than miraculous. The Ridgefield junior, whose best mile time was a 4:09 summoned something inside himself he never had before. He was four seconds back with 600m to go but had narrowed the lead to only .6 seconds with just a half-lap remaining. That supreme effort didn’t seem to take a toll on Hergenrother as he powered past the NY champion with 150m to go. Remarkably Gilstrap ran a 4:08 1600m leg but that just forced the Ridgefield junior to dig even deeper than he ever has before, running an incredible 4:01.80. He helped his team to finish in a winning time of 9:58.08, bypassing Danbury’s FCIAC record and coming within a second and a half of Hamden’s state record."
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