Girls’ track opens season with win over Lynnfield

THE NRHS girls’ track 4×200 relay team set a new meet record at the Speed Classic. Pictured from left to right is Ava McIntyre, Madison Vant, Kayla Budny and Giuliana Ligor. (NRHS Track Photo)

Sets three meet records at Speed Classic

BOSTON — The girls’ track and field team opened up their season on Dec. 13 at the Track at New Balance with a convincing 82-18 win over Lynnfield. The Hornets won 10 of the 12 events contested en route to the decisive victory over the Pioneers. Leading the way was captain Ava McIntyre, junior Madison Vant, and sophomore Giuliana Ligor who each scored 11.25 and were the team’s highest scorers.

In the 55 Meter Hurdles, Madison Vant (9.46) took 1st with Hayden MacLellan (10.53) and Katie Zimmerman (10.66) completing the sweep of the event. Ellie Heintz (10.70) was also not far behind. In the 55 Meter Dash, Ava McIntyre went 7.63 for the victory with Kayla Budny (7.76) a close 2nd. Both qualified for the state championship in the process. Georgia Robarts (8.09) and Julia DeAngelis (8.12) were not far behind either.

In the 300 Meter Dash Marisa Montana (46.21), in her first season of track, took 1st while Madelyn Arian Aitchison (46.78) took 2nd. Jenna Mahoney (47.42), Alexandra Sfikas (49.93), Ellie Heintz (51.60), and Lindsey Rosenthal (51.93) also had impressive performances.

In the 600 Meter Run Giuliana Ligor cruised to victory in 1:45.92 while Tiara Lamont (1:56.03) and Isabelle Lazure (2:01.35) completed the sweep of the event. Despina Sfikas (2:05.16), Bella Fischer (2:09.50) and Madeline Forristall (2:11.36) did well in their debut in the event.

In the 1000 Meter Run Karleigh Budny (3:37.18) took 2nd while Eva Hanegraaff (4:00.26) took 3rd. Madeline Lambert (4:09.82), and Ellie Moberg (4:24.58) were not far behind.

In the 1 Mile Run Ava Collins (6:18.41) took 2nd with Callie MacLellan (6:29.94) taking 3rd.  Vasiliki Kouiroukidis (7:21.72) and Sabrina Mini (7:36.34) were solid in their distance debuts.

Annalise Butler dominated the field in the Two Mile Run with an 11:37.61, qualifying for the national championships in the process, an impressive feat after only two and half weeks of training. Quinlan Kelly (14:12.2h) braved the event in her first indoor track race.

In the High Jump Ligor took her second event with a leap of 5’0” and qualified for the national championship in the process. Tiara Lamont (4’6”) took 2nd and Giuliana Auciello (4’2”) just missed taking 3rd.

Ava Mcintyre took her second event in the Long Jump with a leap of 16’ 1.5” with Georgia Robarts (14’ 8”) and Kayla Budny (13’ 9”) completing the sweep.  Alexandra Sfikas (13’ 3”) was a close 4th.

Madison Vant capped off the field event victories with an impressive 29’ 11.5” performance in the shot put. Sabrina Mini (26’ 10.5”) took 2nd with Karleigh Budny (20’ 10.25”) and Melina Kalaras (19’ 5”) doing well in their debuts in the event.

Capping off the evening were the relay events which both were taken by North Reading. The 4×200 meter relay of Ava McIntyre, Madison Vant, Kayla Budny, and Giuliana Ligor went 1:47.40 for a national qualifying mark and over 5 seconds ahead of every other relay team at the meet.  Their name is the fastest time run in the state this year with no other teams having yet run under 1:50.5. The 4×400 Meter Relay team made up of Julia DeAngelis, Madelyn Arian Aitchison, Marisa Montana, and Tiara Lamont capped off a stellar night with a time of 4:30.07.

The Hornets had another fantastic performance on Dec. 18 at the Speed Classic Small Schools Meet held at the Reggie Lewis Center. The Hornets won four of the seven events contested and ended the day setting a total of three meet records.

In the 55 Meter Hurdles, junior Madison Vant took fourth place with a time of 9.28. Freshman Katie Zimmerman also performed well with a time of 10.81. In the 55 Meter Dash, Captains Ava McIntyre and Kayla Budny both finished within the top five. Ava McIntyre ran a 7.46, securing first place and setting a new meet record in the process. Kayla Budny finished fifth with a time of 7.67. Not far behind was junior Georgia Robarts, finishing in 11th place with a time of 7.93.

In the 300 Meter Dash Tiara Lamont ran a 46.15, placing 14th overall. Finishing 25th and 26th were junior Madelyn Arian Aitchison (47.04) and sophomore Marisa Montana (47.20). Isabelle Lazure (47.49) and Jenna Mahoney (47.97) also had impressive performances.

In the 600 Meter Run sophomore Giuliana Ligor took first place, running an outstanding time of 1:38.81. In the process, Ligor set a new meet record in addition to qualifying for nationals. Also in the 600, Captain Annalise Butler (1:48.41) finished within the top 10. Captain Karleigh Budny placed 22nd with a time of 1:54.53.

In the Long Jump Madison Vant qualified for nationals on top of coming in first place, jumping an impressive 17’ 0.5”. Ava McIntyre finished in third place with an impressive jump of 16’ 10”. Also within the top 10 was Giuliana Ligor (15’ 9”), who came in 6th place. Tiara Lamont (14’ 8”) and Katie Zimmerman (14’ 7”) each had strong performances, coming in 11th and 14th.

To conclude the day, North Reading’s own 4×200 meter relay team of Ava McIntyre, Madison Vant, Kayla Budny, and Giulianna Ligor went 1:48.01 and finished in first place. These girls set a new meet record in the process, and will be competing at nationals later this season. The 4×200 meter relay ‘B’ team made up of Julia DeAngelis, Georgia Robarts, Madelyn Arian Aitchison, and Marisa Montana managed to finish in 4th place with a time of 1:54.19. The 4×200 meter relay ‘C’ team made up of Jenna Mahoney, Belle Lazure, Katie Zimmerman and Tiara Lamont was not far behind with a 1:58.41.

These girls will continue their training in preparation for upcoming regular season meets in addition to championship meets, where they will be looking to lower their times. Look for more updates on the girls’ track and field team in upcoming Transcript articles.