RallyNorth.net

Farnham a towering figure on the track

Sunday, February, 27 By Michael Muldoon
Staff writer

ROXBURY — Although just 5-foot-4, Patrick Farnham is a towering personality.
He’s a talented drummer with an oversized stage presence. A few weeks back, the Andover High senior drew gasps from the crowd at a basketball game when he spontaneously broke into a dazzling break-dancing exhibition.
That prodigious talent extends to the track, too.
Yesterday at the All-State meet he ran a speedy 35.97 to take second in the 300 meters.
“This means a lot. This was big,” said Farnham, who’ll continue his running career at UMass Amherst.
The word big may have been a pun. He’s not afraid to laugh at himself. That’s a good quality to have when you are that size and when you are part of the legendary Farnham athletic dynasty.
“I’ve come to like having the name,” he said. “People look up to you and sometimes hate you because you are a Farnham. I’m just trying to get people to hate us a little more!”
Prior to last spring he had never run track (indoor or outdoor). Yet he became the No. 9 200-meter runner (22.30 seconds) in area history.
So he can rub it in everyone’s face around the dinner table? Uh, not quite. His father, Paul, is the No. 7 triple jumper in area history. And his cousin, Buddy Farnham, is on the Patriots (he was recently signed to the 80-man roster).
He’s embraced the monumental family legacy and being so short.
He might add comedian to his dancing and drumming and running talents.
“I’m proud to support the short people,” he said with a laugh. “I look up to everyone.”
He couldn’t always laugh so easily about being short.
“It is what it is,” said Farnham. “I’m fine with it now. It was a little struggle back then.”
The Natural had never run indoor track prior to December. And he was coming back from a lacerated kidney, a frightening injury which put an end to his football season in Week 2.
“I was peeing blood for a week,” he said. “I couldn’t do anything for three months.”
But now he’s back with a vengeance.
Track just came to him after halfhearted attempts at hockey and lacrosse didn’t pan out.
Of course, it didn’t hurt that his uncle is Andover track coach Peter Comeau.
Golden Guys
It was another big day for Andover, which finished second to Mansfield, 50-29.
Farnham was in the thick of it. He also ran on the championship 4x200 team, which broke the tape in 1:31.65.
Freshman Cole Organisciak got the baton in the lead, but New Bedford’s Greg Boursiquot was in hot pursuit. And earlier in the day he set the meet record in the hurdles.
“It was scary when I heard him coming up,” admitted Organisciak. “People were screaming to (Boursiquot), ‘Pass him!’ I just tried to run faster.”
That he did. He finished what Farnham, Troy Cayon and Adam Carrington started and the Blue and Gold repeated as 4x200 All-State champs.
Relay record
Andover’s 4x400 team cut over two seconds off the meet record. But the field was so stacked, the Golden Warriors had to settle for third with a 3:57.69, which moves them up to fourth on our all-time area list.
Sydney Eberth, Jaclyn Torres and Alex Puccia did their jobs and did them well. Then it was Eve Bishop’s turn.
Bishop, who broke her own school with a 40.11 to place third in the 300 meters, was even more impressive in the relay.
The Andover coaches timed her in a stunning 56.7.
That led the Golden Warriors to a fourth-place tie in the team standings.
Junior Maggie Mullins bounced back from a sub-par (for her) outing at Division 1 states to take the silver in the two-mile in 11:02.93. That was just off her school record sub-11-minute clocking early in the season.
“I wished I did a little better,” said Mullins, who was Eagle-Tribune MVP this fall in her first year of cross country. “Of course I wanted to win, but (Franklin’s Megan Ross, who ran a 10:59.78) is a great runner.”

Saving best for last
Meg Donegan was down to probably the last throw of her career.
The Central Catholic senior from Atkinson was the eighth and last finalist in the shot put.
She was still proud. Her 35-1, after all, would place and was a 3-inch personal best.
After a couple 34-foot throws in the finals, she uncorked a big 36-3 1/2 to vault all the way to second place.
“I was just thinking, ‘This is the last throw of my senior year, make it a good one,’” said Donegan, a talented softball player who plans to pitch for Endicott College.
“It felt really good. I just knew.”
So good that it probably prolonged her career. She qualified for the New England Championships here on Friday night.

Dazzling in the distances
Methuen senior Cam Kelley broke his school 1,000 meter record for the third time this season. The UMass Lowell recruit was clocked in 2:32.71 to place fifth.
“It was a personal best by over a half-second from last week,” he noted. “I just stay with the pack and hope it brings me there. This is huge. I definitely can run faster at New Englands.”
He also placed in the 4x800 relay.
Another double-distance placer was Andover senior Simon Voorhees.
The Lehigh recruit ran a 4:19.03 for fourth in the mile and was part of AHS’ third-place 4x800 quartet.
“I’m just off where I wanted to be,” said Voorhees, alluding to Peter Shaw’s school indoor mark of 4:18.03 in 2007. “But most importantly I placed well. I wanted to be on the pedestal (top 3 finishers). I just missed.”