Back-to-Back: Hornets are indoor track State Champs

Published February 28, 2019

THE HORNETS are back-to-back indoor state champs. (John Friberg Photo)

ROXBURY — The girls’ track and field team won their second straight Division 4 State Championship on Sunday, Feb. 17 at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center.

Coming off a strong regular season, where the team finished 2-2 in the Cape Ann League but was on a hot streak as they won the State Relay Championship and Cape Ann League Open Championship in the weeks leading up to this meet. To win the state title the Hornets scored points in the 55 meter hurdles, the long jump, the one mile run, the 1000 meter run, the 4×200 meter relay and the 4×800 meter relay scoring 37 total points. In second was Nauset Regional with 35 points followed by Pentucket (31), Amherst-Pelham (30), Weston (28.5), Medway (27.25), Newburyport (26), Northampton (25), Notre Dame Academy-Hingham (22) and Holliston (19).

KATELYN GORGENYI stands on the medal podium after capturing first place in the 55 meters at the D4 State Meet. Gorgenyi scored 11.75 points to lead NR to their state championship. (John Friberg Photo)

Leading the team to victory with 11.75 points was sophomore Katelyn Gorgenyi. Gorgenyi was crown state champion in the 55 Meter Hurdles running 8.66 in the preliminary round to advance to the finals where she ran 8.50, which was a .01 second personal best. Later in the meet, Katelyn picked up 8th place in the long jump with a personal best leap of 16’ 6.75.” She then had to sprint over to the oval to anchor the 4×200 meter relay which picked up 6th place with a time of 1:50.93.

Gorgenyi was joined in the relay with Madison DiNapoli, Megan Lawlor and Kaitlyn Shevlin. Megan Lawlor finished 3rd in the long jump with a leap of 16’ 11.25”. Kaitlyn Shevlin also competed in the 55 meter dash where she tied her personal best time of 7.90 seconds for 25th place and long jump where she was just under 16 feet with a leap of 15’ 11” for 14th place. Megan Lawlor and Katelyn Gorgenyi also qualified to compete in the 55 meter dash but scratched the events to focus on the jumps and relays. Madison DiNapoli qualified for 300 meter dash but scratched to focus on running both the 4×200 meter and 4×400 meter relays, both of which she led off for. Also competing in the sprints was Isabella Parrett, who tied her personal best in the 55 meter hurdles with a time of 9.67.

MEGAN LAWLOR had a strong third place finish in the long jump. (John Friberg Photo)

In the distance events, the Hornets also saw two school records fall in the 1000 meter run and one mile run. The previous record holder in both events is the current Colby College standout and NRHS class of 2018 alum Meredith Griffin who had run 3:06.24 and 5:10.88. Grace Hadley took 4th in the 1000 meter run with a new school record time of 3:04.86. Grace’s performance was a seven-second personal best as she moved up from her 10th place spot on the performance list to place well into the top eight. Lindsay MacLellan took 3rd in the one mile run with a new school record time of 5:10.38. Her performance was a whopping 11-second personal best!

Grace and Lindsay came back later in the meet and teamed up with Caitlin Raimo and Julia Thorstad to take 3rd place in the 4×800 meter relay with a time of 10:13.92 which was off barely off their school record performance of 10:05.02 set earlier in the season at the State Relay Championship that they ran on fresh legs at the start of the meet.

CAPTAINS Kaitlyn Shevlin, Megan Lawlor and coach Sotirios Pintzopoulos pose with the championship trophy. (John Friberg Photo)

Wrapping up the meet was the 4×400 meter relay team of Madison DiNapoli, Ellie Janasiewicz, Sophia Galuppo, and Meredith Martin which finished 22nd with a time of 4:41.65. The team of four subbed in just seconds before the start of the race once the Hornets realized they had the team title locked down unless the seeded heat did not run at their best and Nauset won the relay. It was a risky move, but necessary considering that Megan Lawlor, Grace Hadley and Julia Thorstad who were originally on the relay roster had just run the 4×200 and 4×800 just minutes before and were not yet fully recovered in time for the relay due to the quick pace of the meet schedule. Ellie, Sophia and Meredith stepped it up by coming in as alternates and filling in for the team.

Also competing at the state meet was Ryan Hunter in the shot put where she placed 20th with a toss of 30’ 6”. Rounding out the roster where relay alternates Talia Monteleone (4×200), Sam Martel and Abigail McLaughlin (4×800).

Congratulations to the entire team, athletes, coaches, parents, fans and everyone who was part of helping this team achieve its goals this season. These young athletes have achieved something that very few individuals do, a State Championship Title!