Girls’ track team wows at MSTCA Relays
KALEYA CASTERGLOW runs a leg of the first-place winning 4×200 relay team, who swept the competition at the Div. 3 relays last weekend and has helped Melrose girl’s outdoor track remain 3-1. (Donna Larsson photo)
Published in the May 4, 2018 edition.
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The Melrose Lady Raider track team remains a strong 3-1 as they enter their final week of dual meet competition and is now celebrating a very successful showing at the 2018 MSTCA Div. 3 Relays in North Reading on Sunday, when they earned two golds in the 4×100 and 4×200 relays and a 9th overall finish as a team.
Earning first place in the 4×100 were Nora Daley, Nia Kovacev, Brooke Barriss and Lucia Seide, who ran their best time of the season at 51.66. Also earning the top spot were the 4×200 team of Nora Daley, Giovanna Dos Santos Machado, Kaleya Casterglow and Lucia Siede, who earned a best time of 1:49.01, running remarkable 26 second splits.
Melrose head coach Shannon Kane saluted the two relay team’s efforts. “Our 4×100 relay team has run together every meet and practice. They have a great, natural chemistry that brings their efforts to another level. And our 4×200 team has worked tirelessly, with great individual runners. I knew they would perform well on Sunday.”
Melrose also had an impressive finish in the 4×400, a 5th place showing by runners Kate Bidgood, Sydney Kroon, Giovanna Dos Santos Machado and Sarah Herron. And their 4×800 team qualified for states with a 7th place finish behind the legs of Alex Cotugno, Holly Moore, Jenna Fracasso and Kate Bidgood. Melrose also had a solid 8th place finish in the triple jump with efforts from Kovacev, Barriss and Ciara Smith.
Melrose has qualified their 4×100 team and 4×800 teams to States, and on Tuesday, when Melrose competed against Wakefield, they qualified even more athletes, including their 4×400 team of Kate Bidgood, Jenna Champagne, Giovanna Dos Santos Machado and Sarah Herron. Also qualifying Tuesday were Kaya Thompson (hurdles) Giovanna Dos Santos Machado (400 hurdles) Brooke Barris (100) and Nora Daley (200).
Melrose fell for their first time this season against the Warriors on Tuesday in an excruciatingly close 69-67 loss. Despite several outstanding first-place finishes, Melrose was swept in the 2-mile and javelin, which cost them the final points they needed to catapult to the top.
Still, coach Kane is proud of their efforts. “They did great, and the performance of the day went to Jenna Frecasso who came from behind in sixth place in the 800 to clinch second place. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The coach contends that many of these impressive finishes are aided in part by he team’s environment of support and acceptance. “We have a group of 80 girls, so it can be difficult with those numbers to get to know each other. But this group rallies around each other, acknowledges hard work and sacrifice. They always come together to get the job done.”
She credits the team’s thirteen seniors, plus an experienced junior class and strong sophomore class. “Our seniors are amazing leaders. We have a young team, which can be a hit or miss, but these girls have stepped up and have shown our freshmen girls the ropes.”
Melrose will continue to focus on picking up more wins when they face Burlington this coming week and prepare for the Middlesex League meet later in the month. “We expect to do well there, so right now we want to keep improving times, pick up wins and qualify more athletes to state competition,” says Kane. “This is a humble team who is confident but not cocky, which helps keeps us steady and successful.”
Melrose will travel to Burlington on Tuesday for their last dual meet of the year. Action takes place at 3:45 p.m.
