TWO HORNETS medaled in the long jump at the All State Meet of Champions. Madison Vant (right) took 7th in the state with a 17’5” and Ava McIntyre (4th from left) took 2nd with a 17’8.5”. (NRHS Track Photo)
BOSTON — On Saturday, Feb. 25 the North Reading High girls’ track and field team competed at the MIAA Meet of Champions at the Reggie Lewis Center.
At this meet, the top 24 athletes in every event across all five divisions in the state meet up to determine who is best of the best.
The Hornets represented well with Ava McIntyre competing in the 55 Meter Dash and Long Jump, Giuliana Ligor in the 600 Meter Run and Madison Vant in the Long Jump. The Hornets also had two relays compete: the 4×200 Meter Relay made up of Kayla Budny, Ava McIntyre, Madison Vant and Giuliana Ligor and the 4×400 Meter Relay made up of Tiara Lamont, Madison Vant, Annalise Butler and Giuliana Ligor.
Ligor started things off for the Hornets by breaking the 600 Meter School Record of 1:37.08 set back in 2008 by Shannon Conway who later went on to compete at Harvard University (2008-2012). Ligor placed third in the race (1:36.35) behind 2nd place Kayla Buback (1:35.26) from Woburn and Kylie Bernard (1:34.58) from Cambridge Ridge and Latin. This was the first time all season that Giuliana was pushed from start to finish, which allowed her to run her best time and break that 15 year old school record,” said head coach Sotirios Pintzopoulos. “Congratulations to Giuliana!”
GIULIANA LIGOR (right) took 3rd at the All State Meet of Champions in the 600 meters with a time of 1:37.08 which broke a school record set by Shannon Conway in 2008. (NRHS Track Photo)
Ava McIntyre and Madison Vant then showed everyone why North Reading has one of the best jumps program in the entire state as they both placed in the top 8 at the meet.
Vant took 7th with a jump of 17’5″which is just two inches off of her personal best of 17′ 7″. McIntyre took second place with a personal best leap of 17′ 8.5,” which was a tie for first place, but she lost the tie breaker which is based on athletes’ second best jump.
As Ava’s second best jump was 17’3″ and Grace Hanafin of Burlington’s second best jump was 17’4″ Ava had to settle for runner up. Regardless, it was an incredible performance for Ava who is now tied for 2nd place all time on the NRHS record board, falling just 1/4″ off of the school record held my Megan Lawlor at 17′ 8.75″.
Both relays also performed well. The 4 x400 Meter Relay finished 17th with a season best time of 4:15.22 which is the 4th best time run in NRHS history, just 8 seconds off of the school recod of 4:07.7. The 4×200 Meter Relay was off of its season best of 1:45.91 when it ran 1:46.79 but was good enough for 8th place and winning a spot on the podium.
The Hornets will next compete at the New Balance Indoor Track and Field National Championship at the Track at New Balance in Boston, from Thursday, March 9 through Sunday, March 12. Here is link to the performance list and the live stream of the meet for those of you looking to watch from home as well as ticket sales for those of you wishing to watch in person.
Performance List
www.nbnationalsin.com/eprofile.php?event_id=1164&do=news&news_id=656421
Live Stream
www.nbnationalsin.com/eprofile.php?event_id=1164&do=videos&video_id=351939
Ticket Sales
www.freshtix.com/events/new-balance-nationals-indoor-2023
