THE NRHS girls’ track and field team won the CAL Open Championship on May 20 in Newburyport, scoring a new meet record 184 points. The Hornets will compete in the Div. 5 State Meet today and Saturday at Norwell High School. (Eric Evans Photo)
Update post publication:
North Reading girls’ track wins MIAA Division 5 State Championship (May 27)
Published May 25, 2023
NEWBURYPORT — The NRHS girls’ track and field team traveled to Fuller Field and Track in Newburyport to face the entire Cape Ann League to determine who is the best of the best on May 20.
The Hornets proved yet again that they are the team to beat not only in the state but especially in the Cape Ann League, scoring a whopping 184 points, which is an all time league record for most points scored in the meet. Finishing in second was Newburyport (129) followed by Triton (93), Pentucket (65), Ipswich (32), Amesbury (26), Hamilton-Wenham (23) and Lynnfield (6).
Leading the team to victory was triple event winner Madison Vant, who scored 30 points winning the Triple Jump, Javelin Throw and Long Jump and was also named the Athlete of the Meet. Maddy’s tremendous feat was all completed within an hour. She took two attempts in the Long Jump and went 18’ 0”, passing on her third attempt so she could run off to the Javelin Throw where she took three attempts which were all well over 100 feet. While the remainder of her flight was contesting the event she ran back to the Long Jump to take one attempt in the final round and improved to 18’ 2.5” to win the event. She returned back to Javelin to seal the deal with a 118’ 9” toss and then ran back to the track for the Triple Jump to win that event by one inch with a leap of 35’ 6”.
Another triple event winner was Giuliana Ligor, who won the 400 Meter Hurdles (1:03.79) and 400 Meters (58.41) while also anchoring the winning 4×100 Meter Relay (50.22) which she ran along with Julia DeAngelis, Georgia Robarts and Ava McIntyre.
The Hornets scored 55 points in the throwing events, which in itself would have outscored half of the CAL teams’ total team scores. In the Shot Put, Abigail Gerber (32’ 5”), Abigail Lilley (31’ 9.25”) and Sabrina Mini (29’ 6”) took 2nd, 3rd and 5th. In the Javelin Throw, Vant (118’ 9”), Gerber (110’ 4”) and Mini (87’ 0”) took 1st, 2nd and 5th. In the Discus Throw, Lilley (119’ 7”), Gerber (104’ 5”) and Mini (87’ 3”) took 1st, 2nd and 6th. Lilley’s victory was her second in a row as she was champion in the event last year as a sophomore as well.
The Hornets added another 54 points in the jumping events with victories in the Pole Vault, Triple Jump and Long Jump. Lilley took 4th in the High Jump (4’10”). Hayden MacLellan defended her League Championship in the Pole Vault going 10’ 0” with Julia DeAngelis (8’6”) and Jenna Mahoney (7’0”) taking 3rd and 6th. Vant was first in the Long Jump, followed closely by Ava McIntyre (18’0”) in second and Georgia Robarts (16’ 11.75”) in 6th. Georgia also took 4th in the Triple Jump (34’ 5.75”) behind Vant’s 35’ 6” winning performance in the event.
McIntyre won the 100 Meters winning back to back championships in the event with a blazing 12.37 second performance that was a huge .2 second personal best and is one of the top 10 times run in Massachusetts this season. Hayden MacLellan took second in the 100 Meter Hurdles with a time of 15.97, breaking 16 seconds for the first time. Showing the depth of the Hornet sprints squad was Madelyn Arian Aitchison (28.43) and Jenna Mahoney (28.93) who finished 3rd and 6th in the 200 Meters respectively.
Annalise Butler showcased the Hornet distance squad by doubling in the Two Mile (11:38.85) and One Mile (5:40.04) taking 3rd and 4th in each event. The 4×800 Meter Relay team made up of Quinlan Kelly, Charlotte McLaughlin, Ava Collins and Karleigh Budny took 4th place with a time of 11:31.26. To end the meet, Annalise Butler anchored the 4×400 Meter Relay to a 3rd place finish in 4:28.50 along with Tiara Lamont, Madelyn Arian Aitchison and Julia DeAngelis to bring the team total score to 184.
The Hornets start day one of the Division 5 State Championship later this afternoon (Thursday, May 25) at Norwell High School with the event commencing on Saturday, May 27. Look for that story in next week’s Transcript.
