Published in the January 25, 2017 edition
POSING with their fourth-place medals earned at the MSTCA Div. 5 Indoor State Relays are members of the Pioneers girls’ sprint medley relay team, from left: captain Kate Mitchell, captain Lilli Patterson, Danielle Percoskie and Lilly Rothwell. (Courtesy Photo)
By MAUREEN DOHERTY
BOSTON — Girls’ track team members from Lynnfield High shone brightly at the annual Mass. State Track Coaches’ Association (MSTCA) Division 5 Indoor State Relays on Saturday.
Named in honor of James Kalperis, the meet was electronically timed for the most accurate results at the state’s premier indoor facility, Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston.
The girls’ 1,600-meter sprint medley relay “A team” turned in the best performance of the day for the Pioneers, earning fourth-place overall out of 39 teams with an impressive combined time of 4:28.02.
The foursome of junior captain Kate Mitchell along with the freshmen duo of Danielle Percoskie and Lilly Rothwell, and senior captain Lilli Patterson were also awarded four team points and medals for their efforts.
“Kate ran an aggressive opening leg 800m with a 2:18 split, just a second slower than her personal record this season in that event,” head coach Liane Cook told the Villager.
“Danielle Percoskie ran a 200m next with a great time of 29 seconds,” she added, before passing the baton to Lilly Rothwell, “who ran a personal record in the third leg, running a 200 in 31 seconds.”
Rothwell passed the baton off to the team’s anchor, Patterson, and she in turn ran “an aggressive fourth leg and got a personal record in her split for the 400m with a 67,” Cook said.
The Pioneers ran in the most competitive fourth heat, in which five out of the top six teams competed. Only the top six teams were eligible to score points.
The race was won by Austin Prep’s A team in 4:21.26. Taking second was Martha’s Vineyard-Oaks Bluff in 4:26.03, which was also the only team to earn points while competing in the third heat. Littleton’s A team took third in 4:27.51.
The Pioneers also out-gunned their rivals, North Reading, by a mere eight-tenths of a second, forcing the Hornets to settle for fifth place overall.
7th for distance medley
Also finishing in the top 10 was the girls’ distance medley relay team, which placed seventh overall out of 26 teams with a combined time of 13:49.23.
“Freshman Emma Ricciardi, despite being very sick at the end of this week, ran a great opening 1,200m with a time of 4:15,” Cook said.
Running another 400m race, Patterson recorded a speedy split of 69 seconds. She passed the baton off to Ashley Barrett, who ran her second 800m race of the day in this relay, Cook said, and finished with a time of 2:51.
“Mitchell anchored the relay with a 1,600m time of 5:32,” the coach added. This relay was won by Littleton which also set a new Division 5 record time of 12:38.21, besting the prior record of 12:43.89 set by Manchester-Essex in 2014.
Cook noted that another great performance was turned in by freshman Jenna Freni in the shot put relay. Freni set a personal record by throwing a distance of 24 feet, 3 inches, which was “almost two feet further than her best throw this season,” she said.
