Exeter and Andover renewed their historic rivalry this past weekend in the annual spring season finale, continuing one of the oldest and most competitive traditions in school sports.

The weekend began in thrilling fashion – a theme that was carried throughout – with a big win for girls varsity lacrosse, who edged out Andover in overtime on Friday night. On Saturday, Exeter earned victories in both boys and girls track and field and boys JV lacrosse. Extra time was needed in both boys varsity lacrosse and varsity baseball, as Andover captured thrilling victories while the Blue also picked up wins in softball and girls JV lacrosse.

Friday night in Phelps Stadium set the stage for a weekend full of competitive events. Knotted 3-3 at the half, girls varsity lacrosse slid into a 6-3 deficit in the third quarter as the Blue buried three quick goals to start the second half.

From there, Grace Benson and Big Red went to work. The senior potted her first of six straight goals at the end of the third to trim the Andover lead to 6-4 at the start of the fourth quarter. Benson found her way to the goal in the opening 20-seconds of the final frame to bring Big Red within one, 6-5.

The two sides would trade goals before Benson cut through the middle of the Big Blue defense and evened the game at 7-7 with 6:28 left to play. Hannah Hoyt secured the ensuing faceoff and Benson found the back of the net for a sixth time to give Exeter an 8-7 lead with 4:42 remaining. Andover would draw the teams even once again with 3:00 on the clock. Both sides would have chances in the final three minutes, but both defenses and Exeter goalie Allie Bell held strong to force the game into overtime. In the extra period, Benson converted an 8-meter shot in the opening minute of play to give Big Red a thrilling 9-8 victory. Benson finished the day with seven goals, including the 100^th of her esteemed career.

On Saturday, the fireworks continued on the track as Big Red saw many outstanding performances as the boys and girls swept the dual meet. Lucian Gleiser earned first overall in an exciting 800m race, coming in at a blazing 1:52.90 and just 0.35 seconds ahead of Tam Gavenas of Andover. Jaylen Bennett earned victories in the 200m (21.72), 400m (48.41), and teamed up with Elias Warner, Alex Sahinoglu, and Collin Moore to take first place in the 4x100m relay (42.52).

Sahinoglu also captured victories in the 110m hurdles (15.21) and 300m hurdles (40.92) while Bo Howland-Vlahakis earned first place in the 1500m with a time of 4:07.37. Carter Johnson took home first place in the javelin with a throw of 179-3. The boys team earned an 84-61 victory.
On the girls side, Gianna Phipps captured first place in the 100m (12.39) and 200m (25.16) while Jannah Maguire ran away with the 100m hurdles (14.96) and 300m hurdles (43.69). The girls 4x100m relay of Steph Handte, Maguire, Sam Benochi, and Phipps claimed first overall with a time of 48.83 while the 4x400m team of Benochi, Phipps, Ayana Okuneye, and Maguire put forth a first place time of 3:57.11, a full 15-seconds ahead of the Blue. Okuneye also earned first place in the 400m when she crossed at 59.67.

Handte finished first overall in the long jump with a leap of 17-5.50 while Benochi finished atop the leaderboard in the triple jump, with a jump of 34-5.50. The girls captured the top team finish by a score of 77-68.

Phelps Stadium was the scene of another suspenseful story as the Red and Blue played into overtime in boys varsity lacrosse. A goal by Phin Gibbs in the waning seconds of the third gave Big Red a two-goal cushion, 6-4, at the start of the fourth quarter. Andover would trim their deficit to one at the start of the quarter before Gibbs struck again to give the hosts a 7-5 lead with ten minutes to go. The Blue would go on to score two unanswered goals and eventually tie the game at 7-7 to send the game into overtime. Andover scored just 39-seconds into the extra period to complete the comeback and secure an 8-7 win. Exeter goalie Jack Marquardt was outstanding in between the pipes while Ryan Ehrgott, Shane McDonnell, and Tyler Callander each added goals for the hosts.

Four quarters was also not enough for the boys JV lacrosse game. Trailing 10-9 with 20 seconds to go, Cooper Meadville danced to his left and ripped a shot inside the lower-right corner to even the game at ten apiece and send the game into overtime. With 35-ticks remaining, Jack Savino took a feed from Caspar O'Connell and found the back of the net to give Big Red an 11-10 victory.

In keeping with the theme on the diamond, Exeter and Andover baseball could not settle things in nine innings and need extra's to decide a winner. Big Red held a 4-2 lead in the ninth, but Andover would push two across in the inning before scoring three in the tenth to earn a 7-4 come-from-behind victory. Sam Roberts finished 2-for-3 on the day at the plate while Dana Mussulman went 1-for-4 with a double, two RBI, and a run scored to lead the Exeter offense. Saahi Jetti struck out four over three innings of scoreless work while Ryan O'Keefe and Sean Noone combined for seven strikeouts in six innings of relief.

Andover would round out the day with a 14-0 victory in softball and a 15-5 win in girls JV lacrosse.