Published in the May 12, 2016 edition

HORNET SENIOR Liz Carlson helped North Reading complete the sweep of Hamilton–Wenham in the shot put with a heave of 28 ft., 10 in. (John Friberg Photo)

HORNET SENIOR Liz Carlson helped North Reading complete the sweep of Hamilton–Wenham in the shot put with a heave of 28 ft., 10 in. (John Friberg Photo)

NORTH READING — The North Reading Hornets girls’ track and field team continued their winning ways by improving to 6–0 for the season with wins over Hamilton–Wenham and Ipswich on Wednesday May 4 at Ipswich High School. Despite 40 degree weather, 20 mile an hour wind gusts and a constant drizzle that increased to heavy rain towards the end of the meet the girls impressively took down a 3–1 Ipswich team and a previously undefeated Hamilton–Wenham at 4-0.

The keys to success was the team strength in the field events matched by a supportive track performance, especially against the Ham–Wenham Generals where the Hornets outscored the Generals 25 to 3 in the throwing events and 23 to 13 in the jumping events.

Leading that charge was sophomore Juliette Nadeau who won both the Long Jump (15’ 10.5”) and Triple Jump (33’ 6”). Victoria Grasso was second in the long jump (15’ 6.5”) and Pole Vault (7’) behind teammate Rachel Hill (9’6”). Jenna Raffael (30’ 9”) and Julia McDonald (30’ 7”) also competed in the triple jump, picking up valuable points for the team. In the Shot Put, Julia Valenti (33’ 2”) took 1st against both teams with Elizabeth Carlson (28’ 10”) and Johanna Walsh (26’ 2”) closing out a sweep against the Generals. Liz Carlson also came in 2nd in the Discus (69’ 2”) behind teammate Nicole Shedd (79’ 7”). In the Javelin, the Hornets proved supreme, taking 1st and 2nd against both teams and also 3rd against Ipswich. All three scorers broke the 90 foot barrier. Sam Trulli (98’ 0”), Julia McDonald (97’ 1”), and Jenna Raffael (92’ 4.5”). In the High Jump, both Lauren Gulbicki and Emily Roesch tied for 1st against Ipswich and took 3rd against Hamilton, clearing 4’ 8”.

To start things off on the track, Olivia DeMonico took second against both teams in the 400 Meter Hurdles (73.15) followed closely by Jillian McCullough (76.22) who took third against H-W. Meredith Griffin won the One Mile Run (5:33.15) with Claire Finnegan not far behind in 6:06.75, which took second against Ipswich. In the 100 Meter Hurdles, Olivia DeMonico (17.53) in 1st and 2nd and Lauren Gulbicki (18.33) in third against both teams, picked up valuable points.

In the 100 Meter Dash, Rachel Hill (13.64) and Juliette Nadeau (13.87) went 2-3 against two strong sprinters from both opponents as did Meredith Griffin (2:30.91) and Olivia Esposito (2:32.81) in the 800 Meter Run. Julia McDonald picked up 2nd against both teams in the 400 meters (65.28). Emma Wall did the same in the Two Mile Run with a personal best time of 12:48.62, just seconds away from qualifying for the State Championships and sealing the victory against Hamilton-Wenham. Samantha Martel also did well in the 2 Mile, picking up her first varsity point with a time of 13:49.24. Having already won the meet, Kirsten Bradley (28.01) and Jenna Raffael (28.18) went 2-3 against both teams.

As the rains came down on the Hornets the 4 x 400 meter relay took first against both teams with delight and joy as they were drenched crossing the finishing line in 4:40.00.

The team’s last regular season meet was yesterday (Wednesday, May 11th) at home against Newburyport and Pentucket. Check out next week’s Transcript to see how they did.