GABBY MINASIAN soared to a new personal best by a half a foot in the long jump, her distance of 15’9.5” placing 9th at the Div. 3 State Meet on Wednesday at the Reggie Lewis Center.
BOSTON — The Wakefield High girls’ indoor track and field team had a fantastic showing at the Division 3 State Championship on Wednesday at the Reggie Lewis Center.
Since the beginning of the season, the focus has been on personal bests. This meet was no different.
The difference was the magnitude in which many of them improved.
The discussion before the meet was to simply perform consistently with how they performed all season and to not put pressure on themselves to perform miracles. It seems the Warriors ignored that notion as many of them crushed their best performances while also stepping up to fill the void of an injured Sammy Seabury.
In the 55 meter hurdles, Maddy Seabury ran a stunner of a race as she took nearly a second off her previous best running 9.62 seconds.
In the 55 meters, Jade Roycroft also had a big personal best time of 7.75 to place 12th. Junior Lily Duval took a bunch of time off to run 7.82 to place 18th. Junior Gabby Minasian ran a time of 7.95 to place 34th. This is the first season Wakefield has had more than one girl under 8 seconds in the 55 meters. Junior Sydney Moon has also run 7.99 this season.
Minasian added a half a foot to her previous best in the long jump with her jump of 15’9.5” to make the finals and place 9th.
In the 1 mile, Maggie Leone outraced most of the girls seeded ahead of her with a 10 second PR of 5:23 and placed 4th. Leone will have to wait and see if she qualified for All States. Junior Maddie Nett placed 13th in 5:39.59 making that a season best. Freshman Lily Sallee ran a great time of 5:46.29 to place 18th.
In the 600 meters, junior Caileigh Sweeney ran a big PR of 1:43.79 to place 7th on the podium. Sophomore Molly Forrest ran a 1:44.67 taking off 5 seconds off her previous best and just missing the podium in 9th. Junior Devon Jellison ran a PR of 1:45.81 to place 11th. Freshman Maeve Schermerhorn ran a PR of 1:49.60 to place 29th.
In the 1000 meters, junior Caroline Roberts medaled placing 6th with a PR of 3:11.47. Sophomore Maggie Barnard ran a time of 3:30.65 to place 31st.
In the 300 meters, junior Ania Jacob ran a time of 46.72 to place 24th.
Annie King got out fast in the 2 mile to set the pace for the whole field. She held on strong for 3rd place earning herself a trip to All States in the senior’s first season and a 20 second PR of 12:02. Sophomore Charlotte O’Neil also improved by 20 seconds running 12:04 to place 4th. She will wait for the wildcard spot at All States. Lexi Yianacopolus just missed the podium in 9th, running a PR of 12:33.
The 4×200 meter relay team of Minasian, Roycroft, Duval and Moon placed 15th in a time of 1:55.99.
The 4×800 meter relay team of Leone, Sweeney, Jellison and Roberts medaled in 5th with a time of 10:19.
In the end, the Warriors finished a solid 8th overall.
“We are very proud of the girls, they had an amazing night and performed well above expectations,” said head coach Perry Pappas. “If they continue to remain consistent with their training, big things will happen for them in the Spring. Many key contributors will be graduating but it’s also exciting to have many who will be returning next year. The bar has been raised.”
