Published in the February 17, 2016 edition
PROUD MOMENT. Kate Mitchell (second from right) is all smiles after receiving her third place medal in the 600m race at the Div. 5 State Championships. (Courtesy Photo)
By MAUREEN DOHERTY
BOSTON — The Lynnfield girls’ indoor track and field team had a strong showing at the Division 5 State Championships last Saturday at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.
The team finished with seven points in a three-way tie for seventh place overall with Winthrop and Grafton, out of 41 teams.
“It was a great day for Lynnfield girls’ track,” commented head coach Liane Cook.
Sophomore Kate Mitchell ran a personal record in the 600m race to place third out of 17 competitors. This finish also qualified Mitchell to advance to the All State Championships on Saturday, Feb. 20 at the Reggie Lewis Center. She also earned six points for the team. Her time was 1:39.56.
“She ran a smart race, starting off a bit slower than previous races,” Cook said. “By the third and final lap though, she was not in a position to qualify. With a gutsy kick at 150 meters to go, she passed other competitors and finished third!”
In track, the top three runners from each of the five divisions qualify for All States along with the next nine fastest times from across all divisions. The performance list for All States with individual seedings based on qualifying times from the five divisional meets will be posted later this week on the MIAA website, www.miaa.net.
First place in the 600m went to Kaia Corthell of Ursuline Academy, who ran a time of 1:38.12. Second place went to Kaylin Ciesluk of Oakmont Regional (1:38.66). Mitchell’s time was just 1.44 seconds behind Corthell and nine-tenths of a second behind Ciesluk, due to the time she gained with her kick at the end of the race.
The 4x800m relay team also ran a great race and placed eighth overall out of 16 teams, earning one point for the team. Points are earned for finishing in first through eighth places.
“Lexi Yannone ran a great first leg, going out aggressively and setting a competitive tone for the rest of the team. Her split was a 2:36. She handed off the baton to Meryl Braconnier, who ran her last high school track meet with a three-second personal record. Her split was 2:40,” recalled Cook.
“Lilly DiPietro ran the third leg with a split of 2:47 and handed off the baton to Kate Mitchell, who ran a split of 2:29 and passed several runners throughout the race to help secure an eighth place for the team,” Cook added.
The foursome’s combined time was 10:32.30, just slightly behind the seventh-place team from Sutton (10:31.13). The relay was won by Ursuline Academy in 10:09.40.
Rounding out the field of competitors from Lynnfield was Liz Reed, a junior who had a strong showing in the 300m race. Her time of 44.29 seconds placed her 16th overall out of a field of 50 competitors in that race.
