By Dimitri Donas ‘23
Chaminade High School’s 2022-2023 winter track and field season has been a success in every sense of the word. The Flyers proved both their proficiency in the sport and their ability to work as a team.
The 4x800m relay team, composed of runners Jack Higgins ’23, Reef Kirchner ’24, Pat Mulryan ’23, and Michael Touma ’23, did particularly well throughout the indoor season.
The Flyers started their pursuit of the gold at the Millrose Games Trials, where the team qualified with a first-place finish in the 4x800m relay with a time of 8:01.51. The team added another first-place finish in the 4x800m at the New Balance Grand Prix in Boston. With a time of 7:51—beating their own record—the Flyers defended last year’s George T. Eastment Trophy.
This 8th win tied Chaminade with Fordham Preparatory School for the most wins of this rotating trophy since the CHSAA started running the event in 1975.
The Millrose Games at The Armory was their next challenge, which tested the resiliency of the varsity runners. Despite once again beating their previous best with a 7:50 in the 4x800m, the Flyers placed second to Episcopal Academy in Pennsylvania.
The season culminated with the Nike Indoor Nationals, where the runners’ ability to face adversity was truly tested. Prior to the 4x800m event, Touma’s shoes had been misplaced, forcing Higgins, the 4th runner and anchor of the relay, to lend his shoes to Touma, who went second. While Mulryan, a Boston College track commit, ran the 5th and 6th laps of the relay, Higgins rushed to put his shoes back on, knowing that failure to do so would set the Flyers so far behind that a decent finish would be nearly impossible.
Luckily Huggins, a Bucknell University track commit, got his shoes laced in time and finished the final two laps in spectacular fashion. Despite their perseverance, the Flyers lost by a thousandth of a second to the Storm Track Club from Ohio.
“It was definitely one of the most exciting races I have ever run,” Higgins said of the event. “The adrenaline rush was out of control, especially after we found out that we lost Michael’s shoes. Putting on the shoes during the 3rd leg was probably the most terrifying experience, but when I got laced up I was excited.”
The uber-talented Flyers squad inspired each and every member of the team to be his best self.
“It pushes you, encourages you to get to their level,” Anthony Terrano ’23 said. “They have shown the whole team what dedication, effort, and time is required to compete at such a high level. You start to realize it’s an honor to practice and be alongside some of the top athletes in the country, who are also your friends that you went to school with for four years.”
The 2023 winter season also allowed two freshmen to break into the scene. Georgios Stergiopolous ’26 heaved the 25-lb weight throw a distance of 56 feet to set a freshman school record and narrowly miss the all-time CHSAA freshman record. He also won the varsity CHSAA 12-lb shot put and weight throw, setting records at six different meets this season.
Sean Loggie ’26 ran a 4:37 mile and placed not only 11th in the event, but also 2nd in school history of freshman mile times.
Reflecting on the season, Coach Kevin Beirne ’00 stated, “I’m extremely proud of this group of athletes, particularly the 4x800m. We graduated several very good seniors last year and expectations were not as high as this group ended up soaring. They stepped up in a huge way and made this relay something special. Competing alongside professional athletes at the New Balance Games and Millrose Games, as well as performing well on the national stage in two relays, was a great experience for them. The excitement this relay brought to the team, coupled with a lot of success in the freshmen class (in addition to Stergiopolous and Loggie, the team won the Freshmen League and placed second in the CHSAA), speaks so well for the future of Chaminade’s running program.”
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