Warriors earn first win, top Melrose 45-41
Published in the January 6, 2016 edition
SARA CUSTODIO (left) accepts the baton from Cassie Lucci in the 4×400 relay in Wakefield’s meet against Melrose last night at Boston University. The Warriors won the relay and the meet, 45-51. (Donna Larsson Photo)
BOSTON — The Wakefield Memorial High girls’ indoor track team didn’t quite have the depth in its first two dual meets of the season. But last night in the third block of Middlesex League dual meets at Boston University, the Warriors scored enough points to top Melrose by a 45-41 score for their first victory of the season.
Wakefield upped its record to 1-2 on the season but the victory didn’t come easily as the Warriors needed the five points in the final event — the 4×400 relay — to win the meet.
In the relay, the Warriors clocked in at 4:26.66 to Melrose’s 4:27.14.
The race was an exciting one as anchor Abby Harrington, a junior, took the baton and was six yards behind at the time. Harrington was able to overtake her foe down the stretch to take first place in a close race as the Warriors won the meet. Senior Sam Ross, junior Cassie Lucci and senior Sara Custodio ran the first three legs of the event.
The Melrose team included Liz Hirsch, Anne Morrison, Sarah Herron and Emily Donovan.
In the 55 meter dash, sophomore Ana Lucas won the event with a time of 8.00 seconds.
Ross secured a second place finish in the 300 meter dash as she posted a time of 45.35 seconds.
In the 600 meter run, Harrington ran her best time as she won the event in a time of 1:45.61. Lucci earned third place as she posted a time of 1:53.32.
The Warriors claimed second and third place in the 1000 meter run which was a very close race. Custodio and Erin Lucey, a senior, ran times of 3:27.97 and 3:30.24.
Wakefield went one-two in the mile as a result of the efforts of Gillian Russell and Meaghan Hudson. Russell, a sophomore, won the event at 6:02.31 and Hudson, a senior, was the runner up with a 6:03.49.
In the two-mile, Amanda Westlake, a freshman, finished second at 13:16.79.
Sarah Buckley, a senior, captured first place in the 55 meter hurdles in a time of 9.88 seconds.
In the high jump, sophomore Julia Covelle prevented a Melrose sweep as she cleared 4-2 for third place.
Freshman Eadeen Beck continues to show her prowess in the M.L. as she had the best throw of the night among all the teams. In Wakefield’s meet, she captured first with a distance of 31-1 1/2.
There were some good performances from the non-scorers in the meet for Wakefield.
In the dash, junior Taylor Messina (8.43 seconds), junior Christina Freni (8.67 seconds) and freshman Christina LeBlanc (8.81 seconds) all ran.
Sophomores Mikayla Ledoux-Walsh and Morgan Haggerty competed in the 300 and their times were 49.07 seconds and 50.09 seconds.
In the 1000, freshman Isabella Kehoe posted a time of 3:34.07.
Claudia Nerden, a freshman, ran a time of 6:23.59 in the mile.
In the two-mile, senior Reilly McNamara and sophomore Kate Lynch ran times of 13:57.02 and 15:17.15.
In the hurdles, junior Marissa Hoffman, senior Jill Cataldo and junior Theresa Fallon recorded times of 10.78 seconds, 10.81 seconds and 11.36 seconds.
Also competing in the high jump and clearing 4-2 were sophomores Meagan Gibbons and Meghan Powers.
Having their best throws in the shot put were senior Isa Cusack and sophomore Julia Brown with distances of 28-6 1/4 and 26-9 1/2.
Wakefield will be competing in the Div. 4 state relays on Friday night at 4:30 p.m. at the Reggie Lewis Center. After that, the Warriors take on Burlington in their next dual on Tuesday, Jan. 12 at 4 p.m. at Boston University.
