THE NRHS outdoor girls’ track and field team won their 8th straight MSTCA State Relay Championship on Saturday at Seekonk High. (Eric Evans Photo)

 

 

SEEKONK — The NRHS girls’ track and field team has remained undefeated in MSTCA Relay competition since 2016. That’s right, the Hornets have won the MSTCA Relay Championship for the 8th consecutive year. They were D4 Champions in 2016 and 2017, D3 Champions in 2018 and 2019 and 2021 with the 2020 season canceled due to Covid, and D5 Champions in 2022 and 2023 and now again in 2024 after taking the title on Saturday at Seekonk High.

Despite school enrollment shifts and MIAA realignments the Hornets have remained victorious regardless of division. The coaching staff of Sotirios Pintzopoulos, Kirsten MacLellan, Thomas Ledoux, Andrew Falanga, Josh Rocco and Joe Davis are tremendously proud of this group of student athletes, especially the seniors who will graduate after winning this meet all four years.

In order to achieve this tremendous feat, the Hornets scored in 11 of 15 events winning six of seven field events and the Shuttle Hurdle Relay, taking second in the 4×100 meter relay and Shot Put Relay and scoping up three more points in distance events along with an additional point with a B team in the Long Jump Relay.

The track and field coaches in the state consider this meet to define the true championship team as the state championship can be won with a handful of individuals while this meet requires depth and showcases a true team effort. The Hornets have been fortunate enough to have both stars and depth, which has allowed them to dominate this meet over the last decade.

The Hornets scored 90 points for the victory, well ahead of second place Weston (65.38 points). Rounding out the top five schools were Old Rochester (33), Triton (30.38) and Dennis-Yarmouth (30).

The Hornets dominated the field events, scoring 69 of their 90 points, which would have been enough for the victory but they added another 21 points on the track to pull away from their competitors.

The 4×1600 Meter Relay started things off for the Hornets. Quinlan Kelly led off with a 6:00 split followed by Adelyn Kelly (6:17), Riley MacDonald (6:16) and Ava Collins (6:04) for a combined 5th place effort in 24:37.55, scoring 2 points for the team.

 

THE 4X100 relay team set a new meet record of 1:05.68 for first place at the D5 State Relay Championship, qualifying for New Balance Nationals in the process. Pictured is Giuliana Ligor, Georgia Robarts, Hayden MacLellan and Callie MacLellan. (Eric Evans Photo)

The 4×100 Meter Shuttle Hurdle Relay claimed the first victory for the Hornets with Giuliana Ligor, Callie MacLellan, Georgia Robarts, and Hayden MacLellan setting a new Meet Record in 1:05.68. This gave the team 10 points but also qualified this team of four provisional for the New Balance National Championship in June. They will attempt to qualify automatically the next time they run the event in two weeks.

Up next was the 4×100 Meter Relay where Julia Scammon, Giuliana Ligor, Georgia Robarts and Madison Vant ran an outstanding time of 50.08, which was one full second faster then their previous best and good enough for second place and 8 more team points.

Wrapping up the scoring on the track for the Hornets was the 4000 Meter Distance Medley Relay, which took 6th in 14:28.30. Quinlan Kelly led off with a 1200 Meter split of 4:21 followed by Adelyn Kelly’s 400 Meter split of 1:14, Abbie Meier’s 800 Meter split of 2:46 and Ava Collin’s anchor 1600 Meter split in 6:02 which brought the team up from 7th to 6th and scored another point for the Hornets.

The Hornets then pulled away from the entire field winning six of seven field events while taking second in the seventh event and even added an extra point from a Long Jump B Team.

The following are the field event results:

Long Jump Relay – 1st: Madison Vant (17’ 6”), Giuliana Ligor (16’ 6”), Hayden MacLellan (15’9”).

Triple Jump Relay – 1st: Madison Vant (34’ 4”), Georgia Robarts (33’ 9”), Kate Denehy (31’ 11”).

High Jump Relay – 1st: Callie MacLellan (5’ 2”), Abigail Lilley (5’ 0”), Giuliana Auciello (4’ 5”).

Pole Vault Relay – 1st: Hayden MacLellan (10’ 6”), Callie MacLellan (7’ 6”), Alana Hannon (7’ 0”).

Discus Throw Relay – 1st: Abigail Lilley (107’ 11”), Sabrina Mini (90’ 6”), Erin Dee (69’ 8”).

Javelin Throw Relay – 1st: Sabrina Mini (98’ 2”), Sophia Gallivan (82’ 2”), Sydney Scholz (78’ 11”).

Shot Put Relay – 2nd: Abigail Lilley (32’ 3”), Sabrina Mini (28’ 1”), Jacquelyn Genzler (26’ 6”).

Long Jump Relay B – 6th: Kate Denehy (15’ 7”), Elizabeth Sandovich (14’ 8”), Sophia Gallivan (14’ 5”).

The Hornets have set their focus now on defeating Newburyport at home on Wednesday, May 8 for their last regular season meet as the Cape Ann League Championship will be determined. Having won the Cape Ann League every year since 2014 the Hornets are the team to beat but the Clippers will definitely keep things interesting, as they are also currently undefeated in regular season competition.