Warriors clinch at least a share of second straight M.L. title
ISABELLA KEHOE, a sophomore, finished second in the 800 meter run and was a member of Wakefield’s winning 4×400 relay in its victory over Watertown. (Donna Larsson File Photo)
Published in the May 11, 2017 edition.
WATERTOWN — Even though the weather conditions haven’t been ideal for spring track this season, that did not deter the Wakefield Memorial girls’ outdoor track team. Neither did Watertown.
The Warriors clinched at least a share of their second straight Middlesex League Freedom division championship with a decisive 112-24 triumph over the Red Raiders on Tuesday afternoon at the Victory Field track facility.
Wakefield is now 4-0-0 in dual meet competition in the league and can win the title outright with a win over rival Melrose today in a makeup meet at the Shaun Beasley Track and Field facility at WMHS.
Lillian Jones, a freshman, started it off with a win in the 400 hurdles running a time of 75.6 seconds. She also took third in the 400 meter run as she clocked in at 72.0 seconds.
“She is really working hard and it is paying off,” said head coach Karen Barrett.
Michelle Maffe, a sophomore, was second in the 400 hurdles with a time of 80.4 seconds.
Freshman Olivia Lucey secured Wakefield’s only points in the mile with a 5:35 for second place.
Allee Purcell, a junior, had a great day winning the high jump at 4’11”, the long jump at 13’10”, and the 200 meter dash in 26.6 seconds. The 200 time is the second fastest in the league.
Olivia Fetherston, a freshman, was second in the high jump with a 4’10” with senior captain Brigid Scanlon taking third for the sweep with a 4’8”.
Ana Lucas, a junior, had another really good day getting first in the 100 meter dash with a time of 13.4 seconds, second in the long jump with a distance of 13’9”, and second in the 200 meter dash at 28.5 seconds.
Senior Theresa Fallon had a great day winning the triple jump with a leap of 28’11” and getting third in the 100 hurdles with a time of 19.0 seconds.
Marissa Hoffman, a senior, was second in the triple jump with a distance of 28’8” and ran an 18.5 seconds PR for second in the 100 hurdles.
In the shot put and discus, sophomore Eadeen Beck won both events with throws of 31’9” and 85’0”.
Samantha Nimblett and C.C. Colliton, both juniors, completed the sweep in the shot put with throws of 26’3” and 26’0”.
Senior captain Alex Rollins, freshman Rachel Cook, and Kyra Hoffman swept the javelin. Cook and Hoffman both threw PRs. The throws were 87’0”, 78’0”, and 70’0”.
Rollins also took second in the discus with a throw of 81’0”.
The throwers scored 26 out of a possible 27 points.
Senior captain Christina Freni won the 100 hurdles with a PR of 18.4 seconds.
In the 100 meter dash, Ava Vaughan, a sophomore, was third with a time of 14.1 seconds.
Kaitlin Sweeney, a freshman, won the 400 meter run with a time of 68.4 seconds.
“That was her first win for the team as a freshman, very impressive,” said Barrett.
In the 800, senior captain Cassie Lucci, sophomore Isabella Kehoe, and junior Kate Lynch swept the event with times of 2:35, 2:38 and 2:51.
Gillian Russell and Retta Carroll, a junior and a freshman, took second and third in the two mile running a 13:06 and a 13:43. That was Carroll’s best two mile time.
The 4×100 relay team won with a time of 56.2 seconds. The runners were Scanlon, Sarah Labiad, freshman Emily Pudvah, and freshman Adriana Minasian.
The 4×400 relay team captured first with a time of 4:33.9. The runners were Lucey, Sweeney, Kehoe, and Lucci.
“Stoneham beat the Melrose girls yesterday (Tuesday). This means going into tomorrow’s (today’s) meet we are guaranteed a share of the title. My team will not be satisfied with sharing,” said Barrett. “We want to win the title outright. I told the girls if everyone works up to their potential we will get the job done. We have to focus and put forth our very best effort tomorrow (today).”
The time of today’s Melrose-Wakefield meet is at 3:45 p.m.
