Published in the May 2, 2019 edition.
WAKEFIELD — Both teams knew it would be close.
Both teams knew the outcome would most likely determine the Freedom Division champions.
“Both teams brought everything they had,” said Wakefield girls’ track and field head coach Karen Barrett after the Warriors beat Melrose 69-67 on Tuesday in an epic back-and-forth tug-of-war.
“This was one of the most exciting meets I have ever been a part of. It certainly lived up to its hype,” said Barrett. “The competition was amazing.”
With only the triple jump left, the Warriors were holding onto a 65-62 lead. A track meet has a total of 136 points so a 68 is a tie. Wakefield needed four points to get the win.
That became a difficult task when a Melrose jumper reached a personal-best 34’2”. Wakefield’s Lillian Jones matched it with a four-foot personal best to also land at 34’2”. Although Melrose would get first with their second jumps, Jones’ second place set up Adriana Minasian to be the hero of the meet. In order to beat the second best Melrose score, Minasian would need to beat 31’11”.
No pressure.
“The atmosphere was electric,” said Barrett as all eyes were on Minasian for the fate of the best meet of the year.
She soared 33’4” to give Wakefield the win.
“These girls showed so much mental toughness,” said Barrett. “I could not be more proud of the effort my girls put forth today.”
Jones helped end it for Wakefield but she also started the scoring for the Warriors with a 2nd in the 400 hurdles, running a 76.2.
Olivia Lucey scored the Warriors’ only point in the mile, taking 3rd in 5:37.
Olivia Fetherston (5’1”) and Minasian (4’8”) took 1st and 2nd in the high jump.
Fetherston also tied for 1st in the long jump with a 15’6”. That tie came to teammate Ashlee Purcell.
Purcell also won the 400 with a time of 63.3. Maeve Recene was 2nd in the 400 with a great time of 63.7.
Eadeen Beck was outstanding in the shot put and discus, taking 1st in both with a 33’5” in the shot and a 90’ in the discus.
“We went on to sweep the discus which we did not expect,” said Barrett.
Coming through for the Warriors after Beck in the discus was Maddy Powers (75’9”) and Lilly Cullen (70’2”).
Julia Castellano and Rachel Cook took 1st and 2nd in the javelin. Castellano threw a 91’8” personal best and Cook threw an 86’2”.
Jones took Wakefield’s only point in the 100 hurdles with a 3rd place time of 18.4.
Ava Vaughan came up big for Wakefield in the sprints. She won the 200 with a 27.6 and took 2nd in the 100 with a 13.1. Sarah Labiad took 3rd in the 200 with a 28.2.
Sophie Brown ran a great 800, placing 3rd with a PR of 2:30.
Sammy Seabury ran a PR in the two mile with a 12:07 for 2nd place. Maggie Ritchie also had a PR in the two mile, running 12:33 for 3rd.
Melrose took both relays which set up the wild finish in the triple jump.
In the end, it was a great representation of two teams pushing each other to their best. It was also the same exact score as last year’s meet in Melrose.
“I commend Melrose on their great performances. Competition brought out the best in both teams,” said Barrett. “It was just a fantastic team win.”
The Warriors are off to the Freshman/Sophomore State Meet and the Twilight meet this weekend. After that, they host Stoneham in the final dual meet of the season. If they win, they will be Freedom Division champs once again.
