The North Reading High School girls track team won the D4 state relay championship on their home field last weekend. (John Friberg photo)
Published in the May 4, 2017 edition
By SOTIRIOS PINTZOPOULOS
NORTH READING – The girls’ track and field team continued their winning ways by claiming the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Division IV State Relay Championship while hosting the meet at the Arthur J. Kenney Field. Athletes were on double duty competing for their team while also working the meet as the town was hosting 40 teams and over 800 athletes in the competition. Winning the meet is a testament to the depth of the team as there are no individual events contested at the meet but instead every event involved a combined effort of 3-4 athletes competing in an event and combined their total performances.
The Hornets won the meet with a score of 70 points, beating out the other 40 teams 24 of which scored points in the meet. Second place was Amesbury (54 points) 3rd was Old Rochester Regional (52 points) and 4th was Weston (40 points). There were 15 events contested with the top six teams scoring points (10-8-6-4-2-1). The Hornets won the meet by scoring in 11 of the 15 events; winning 3 events, finishing 2nd in two events, 3rd in 3 events, 4th in one event and 6th in two events with 58 of 70 team points were scoring in the jumps, hurdles and distance events.
Winning events and scoring 10 points each for the team were the Triple Jump Relay, Long Jump Relay and Pole Vault Relay. In the Triple Jump, Juliette Nadeau, Megan Lawlor and Ali Grasso not only took 1st but set a new school record at 32.01 meters. Nadeau and Lawlor teamed up with Victoria Grasso in the Long Jump Relay for 1st place at 14.51 meters. The Hornets have so much depth in the jumps that they also scored 6th in the Long Jump Relay with a B team made up of Ali Grasso, Kaitlyn Shevlin, and Sophia Casciano (13.22 meters). The Pole Vault Relay made up of Rachel Hill, Victoria Grasso and Emily Davis dominated the field taking 1st with a combined effort of 7.48 meters. They’re victory marked the seventh year in a row the team has won the event at this meet. Wrapping up the jumping events was the 3rd place finish of the High Jump Relay made up of Emily Roesch, Kerry O’Brien and Lauren Gulbicki.
In the distance events the 4×1600 Meter Relay took 2nd and the Distance Medley Relay took 3rd. The 4×1600 Meter Relay of Lindsay MacLellan, Sam Martel, Claire Finnegan, and Meredith Griffin ran 23:05.30 finishing just 8 seconds behind first place Hamilton-Wenham. In the DMR Lindsay Macellan opened up with a 1200 meter leg, followed by Emily Davis in the 400 meters, Olivia Esposito in the 800 meters and Meredith Griffin anchored with the 1600 meter leg. Their time of 13:25.63 was not only good enough for 3rd place but also set a new school record.
In the sprinting events the Shuttle Hurdle Relay led the way as Jerlin Kaithamattam, Ali Grasso, Lauren Gulbicki, and Maggie McCarthy finished second behind ORR with a time of 1:10.02. The 4×100 meter relay made up of Rachel Hill, Juliette Nadeau, Kirsten Bradley and Talia Monteleone finished 4th in 52.33. The 4 x 200 meter relay made up of Rachel Hill, Nicole Bruzzese, Kirsten Bradley, and Talia Monteleone finished 6th in 1:52.26. The 4 x 800 meter relay made up of Abigail Griffin, Julia Tatone, Sam Martel and Claire Finnegan finished 7th and just outside of scoring with a time of 10:51.74. The Sprint Medley Relay (800=Olivia Esposito) (200=Megan Lawlor) (200=Nicole Bruzzese) (400=Mia DeNofrio) just missed scoring with an 8th place finish in 4:36.47
In the throwing events the Javelin team of Maggie McCarthy, Kirsten Bradley and Emilie Warren led the way finished 3rd with a combined effort of 76.59 meters. The Discus team of Nicole Shedd, Mia Denofrio and Kelly Bratton finished 7th with 62.13 meters and the Shot Put team of Nicole Shedd, Amanda Imbriano and Ryan Hunter was 17th with 22.36 meters.
The girls are excited about their title but are now setting their sights on the remainder of the season. The team competed yesterday on May 3rd at Amesbury High School against Amesbury and Triton. Amesbury is undefeated in regular season competition so a win over them could give the Hornets a chance at the League Title. Look for results in next week’s paper.
