Hornet girls’ track moves to 2-0 with win over Pentucket

THE GIRLS 1600 meter sprint medley relay made up of Ava McIntyre, Kayla Budny, Madison Vant and Giuliana Ligor qualified for nationals and broke the school record with a time of 4:20.76. The old record of 4:22.60 was set 21 years ago in 2002 by Vanessa Rodgers, Meghan Carrette, Michelle Wilkinson and Jennifer Rippel. (NRHS Track Photo)

Set two new records at Northeast Invitational

By EVA HANEGRAAFF and MADELYN ARIAN AITCHISON

BOSTON — On Jan. 10, the North Reading girls’ track and field team had a regular season meet at the Track at New Balance against Pentucket. They took their

second victory of the season making them 2-0 so far with a score of 52.5 to Pentucket’s 37.5 points.

Madison Vant qualified for states with her 9.10 seconds in the 55 meter hurdles which was the 7th best time in school history for this event and got her first place in this meet.

Also qualifying for states and winning her event was Abby Lilley in shot put with a distance of 31’ 4.5”.  This score was the 9th best in school history.

Katie Zimmerman also qualified for states in long jump with a distance of 16’ 0”.

Ava McIntyre won the 55 meter dash with a time of 7.46 seconds.  Kayla Budney (7.65), Georgia Robarts (7.88) and Julia DeAngelis (8.00) were not far behind.

In the 300, Tiara Lamont (45.47) and Madelyn Arian Aitchison (47.12) took second and third place. Tiara Lamont had a time that was 10^th in school history and .02 seconds away from the qualifying time for states. Jenna Mahoney (47.35), Julia DeAngelis (47.89), Alexandra Sfikas (48.42) and Despina Sfikas (49.02) all had impressive times as well.

Madison Vant (9.10) won the 55 meter hurdles. Katie Zimmerman (9.97), Ellie Heintz (10.72) and Giuliana Auciello (11.08) all gave impressive results in this event as well.

In the 600 meter dash, Giuliana Ligor (1:43.09) got first place and Quinlan Kelly (1:55.49) got second place.  Bella Fischer (2:10.98), Lindsey Rosenthal (2:10.91) and Madeline Forristall (2:13.71) all ran great races as well.

Karleigh Budny (3:40.43) won the 1000. Eva Hanegraaff (4:01.64), Sabrina Mini (4:22.33) and Ellie Moberg (4:26.07) all ran impressive races as well.

Annalise Butler (5:26.01) got first place in the mile and Madeline Lambert (7:08.10) got third. Vasiliki Kouiroukidis (7:18.77)  was not far behind her. Butler also won the 2 mile with a time of 12:17.22. Ava Collins (13:31.88) and Callie MacClellan (14:03.97) also ran a very impressive 2 mile run.

Ligor got third place in high jump. Callie Maclellan, Abigail Lilley and Tiara Lamont all jumped well as well. Ava McIntyre (16’ 8.5”) won the long jump and Katie Zimmerman came in second with a leap of 16 feet exactly. Kayla Budny (15’ 8.5”) and Georgia Robarts (15’ 5.5”) jumped well also. Along with Abigail Lilley (31’ 4.5”), who got first place and Madison Vant (27’ 8.5”), who got third, Sabrina Mini (25’ 6.0”) and Miriana Bornstein (20’ 2.0”) all did exceptionally well in shot put.

To end the meet, the 4×200 meter relay team made up of Ava McIntyre, Madison Vant, Kayla Budny and Giuliana Ligor got second place with a time of 1:50.21. The 4×400 meter relay team made up of Julia DeAngelis, Madelyn Arian Aitchison, Marisa Montana and Tiara Lamont got first place with a time of 4:21.53.

Impress at Northeast Invitational

The Hornets had a strong performance this past weekend at the Northeast Invitational at the Reggie Lewis Center. Over the course of Friday and Saturday, the girls competed in a wide range of events, including the weight throw, shot put, triple jump, long jump, both the SMR and DMR, in addition to the 55 meter hurdles. Two of North Reading’s four SMR teams hit national qualifying times and school records were broken in both the weight throw and the SMR.

Starting on Friday, Abigail Lilley placed 6th in the weight throw. Lilley threw a distance of 30’1”, breaking her own school record in the process.

North Reading had six athletes competing in the triple jump, all of whom jumped over 30’. Madison Vant took 2nd place, qualifying for nationals on her second attempt with a jump of 35’ 6”. Both Georgia Robarts and captain Kayla Budny also placed within the top 10; Robarts came in 7th with a jump of 33’ 11”, and Budny jumped 33’ 9”, securing 8th place.

Giuliana Ligor (32’ 8”), Tiara Lamont (31’ 1”), and Alexandra Sfikas (30’ 10”) also all had solid performances in the triple jump.

In the 1600m Sprint Medley Relay, the ‘A’ team made up of Captain Ava McIntyre, Captain Kayla Budny, Madison Vant, and Giuliana Ligor secured 6th place with a time of 4:20.76. In the process, these girls qualified for nationals in addition to setting a new NRHS record; the old record being set back in 2002.

The SMR ‘B’ team, which included Georgia Robarts, Jenna Mahoney, Tiara Lamont, and captain Annalise Butler, also qualified for nationals. The ‘B’ team ran a time of 4:26.14, putting them in 9th place overall.

To conclude Friday evening, Callie MacLellan, Despina Sfikas, Quinlan Kelly, and Ava Collins placed 4th in the Distance Medley Relay, running a time of 14:36.77.

On Saturday, Abigail Lilley (29’ 1”), Madison Vant (29’ 0”), and Sabrina Mini (27’ 2”) all gave impressive performances in the shot put.

North Reading had a total of 10 athletes compete in the long jump, Giulianna Ligor placing 7th with a jump of 16’ 6”. Also placing within the top 10 was Madison Vant, who jumped 16’ 2”. Captain Ava McIntyre was close behind, coming in 11th with a leap of 16’ 1”. Katie Zimmerman (14’ 8”), Georgia Robarts (14’ 4”), Tiara Lamont (14’ 2”), and Captain Kayla Budny (14’ 0”), all managed to jump at least 14’.

In the 55-meter hurdles, Giuliana Ligor ran a 9.72, coming in 18th overall. Hurdlers Katie Zimmerman (10.59) and Ellie Heintz (11.09) also had notable performances.

These girls will be looking to continue their great work at the upcoming state relay meet on Friday.