EASTHAM — When the five boys competing in the 110-meter hurdles lined up at Nauset High School’s track on Tuesday, April 29, the rest of Nauset’s team crowded around the sidelines to watch. Not just to see if the Nauset hurdlers could outpace their solitary rival from Martha’s Vineyard, but to see the return of one of their star athletes: it was the last home meet of the season, and senior Adian Brown was finally able to run.
It was the first race of the year for Brown, who suffered a meniscus tear in his right knee last fall. He finished the race in 15.5 seconds, then went on to compete in the 4×100-meter relay: his team, which also included juniors Xavier Andrulot and Reed Dill and senior Isaiah Robinson, finished in 46.8 seconds.
Brown’s time in the hurdles, meanwhile, earned him second place behind Robinson’s time of 15.1 seconds. Sophomore Enzo Reis took third.
“That’s what I was expecting,” Brown later said of his performance in the hurdles — “not to win at all.” He says he always compares himself to Robinson: “Both of us just push each other all the time, and I’m happy for that,” he says.
But Head Coach Moira Nobili says Brown should give himself more credit. “He’s still really hurt,” she said. “By being here, he’s brought the team up, made them try harder, because they all see the work that he does.” Nobili says that, even when injured, Brown still came to every practice and every meet to cheer on his teammates.
Nauset ultimately beat the Vineyard’s much smaller team, winning every girls event and all but the 100 meters, 400-meter hurdles, 4×400 relay, and discus for the boys. More attention was given to personal records and friendly rivalries than one school triumphing over another: Nauset senior Adrianna Morgan set a personal record in discus with a 101-foot throw, as did senior Peter Silvernail at 122 feet, 6 inches, though he was unable to surpass the Vineyard’s Kaniel Morgan at 126 feet, 3 inches. Silvernail also set a personal record in the shot put with 46 feet, 0.5 inches, finishing first among 10 competitors.
Senior Amina Iliusinova also set a pair of personal records: one was in the 2-mile run, finishing first among the girls in 12 minutes, 50.7 seconds over Vineyard senior Emma Squire’s 14 minutes, 12.4 seconds. Iliusinova collapsed after crossing the finish line, then came back less than an hour later to set another personal best — this time finishing first in the mile in 6:01 flat.
Sophomore Ethan Koufos set an impressive standard in the boys 2-mile, which was held concurrently with the girls. He finished in 11 minutes, 13.1 seconds, having taken an impressive lead over his competitors from the beginning that only widened as the race neared its end. Nauset freshman Maxwell Kerry, who took second, finished in 12:03.7.
After the Vineyard students left, the Nauset athletes stayed behind to celebrate their last home meet of the season with an unusual 4×100 relay, using tennis rackets, hula hoops, and a long plastic pole instead of conventional batons. Brown’s team used a rolled-up prom invitation as their baton: when it made its way to Robinson, who served as the team’s anchor, he unfurled it and presented it to his date.
After the race was over, each of the team’s seniors received a series of gifts from their coaches — chief among them, a bright yellow shirt with “Adian’s Team” printed on the front.
