Girls’ Indoor Track and Field emerges as CAL Open Champions

Published in the February 15, 2018 edition

THE NRHS girls’ indoor track and field team show who’s number 1 at the CAL Open Indoor Track Championships last week at the Reggie Lewis Center. (John Friberg Photo)

By JERLIN KAITHAMATTAM

BOSTON- On Tuesday, February 6, the North Reading Girls’ Track and Field Team came out on top yet again, emerging as the Cape Ann League Open Champions.

In a night filled with shattered records, numerous top 10 finishes, and a plethora of medals, the Hornets were a force to be reckoned with as they took home the Open Championship title with 99 points, ahead of second place Pentucket (77) and Amesbury (61). The remaining team scores were as follows: Newburyport (30), Masconomet (24.5), Triton (23.25), Lynnfield (23), Manchester Essex (20), Essex Technical (19.25), Ipswich (13) and Hamilton-Wenham (13).

The Hornets went into the meet as the second place team in the league, with only one loss in their season to Pentucket. Knowing they needed to perform at their very best to beat not only Pentucket but every other team in the CAL, the hornets entered the competition poised, self-aware, and ready to take on whatever came their way. As a result of their hard work and game day delivery, the Hornets took first place scoring 99 points, a striking 22 points ahead of second-place Pentucket.

The sprinting events kicked off with the 55m Hurdles. Among the five runners from NR, Maggie McCarthy, Lauren Gulbicki, Jerlin Kaithamattam, Kaitlyn Gorgenyi, and Alex Richards, there were numerous personal records, and Senior Maggie McCarthy placed top 8 in the finals with an impressive qualifying personal record time of 9.26s and 9.28s in the finals.

Next, in the 55m Dash, Sophia Casciano, Juliette Nadeau, Kaitlyn Gorgenyi, Megan Lawlor, and Kaitlyn Shevlin all ran impressive times. Sophia Casciano, Juliette Nadeau, and Katelyn Gorgenyi all advanced to the finals and finished in the top 8 with Casciano taking 4th (7.69s) and Nadeau taking 5th (7.71s) for a combined 6 points. In the 300m Dash both Emily Davis (43.31s) and Kirsten Bradley (44.52s) finished in the top 6 and brought in a combined 8 points for their team.

The jumps teams also had some outstanding performances bringing in 29 points. Juliette Nadeau, Sophia Casciano, Megan Lawlor, and Kaitlyn Shevlin took part in the long jump, and together they gained a whopping 25 points for the Hornets. Nadeau (17’ 4.5”), Lawlor (17’ 3.5”), and Casciano (16’ 7”) not only went 1-2-3 but each beat the meet record in the event which was set in 2016 at 16’ 4” by former NRHS athlete and current Dartmouth College sophomore Julia Valenti. Shevlin took 6th (15’ 8”) to add an extra point to the team score.. In the High Jump, Kerry O’Brien (4’ 10”) placed 4th, scoring 4 points.

In the Shot Put, the duo of Ryan Hunter (29’ 10”) and Kelly Bratton (29’ 6”) pushed each other to a 2nd and 3rd place finish, scoring a combined 14 points for the team.

The distance team performed impressively and scored many points for their team. In the One Mile run, Meredith Griffin secured a first place finish, brought in 10 valuable points for the team, and lowered her own school record in the event yet again to 5:14.24! She led the race from start to finish winning by over eight seconds and nearly lapping the remainder of the field.

In the 600m run, Grace Hadley placed 3rd, bringing in 6 points for the team with a new personal best time of 1:40.49. Also running the 600m was Olivia Esposito, Julia Thorstad, and Lauren Keough. In the 1000m, Meredith Griffin placed yet again, this time in 4th, scoring 4 points for the team with a time of 3:21.85. Also running the 1000m was Abigail Griffin, and Caitlin Raimo. In the two mile, Lindsay MacLellan finished 3rd, scoring 6 points. The field went out slow with the 1st and 2nd place runners pulling away half way through the race, Lindsay out kicked the 3rd through 6th place field out leaning two distance runners from Manchester Essex at the line.

Moving onto the relays, the team was comfortable in the lead with 83 points with Pentucket in second with 67 points, Amesbury in third with 49 points and the rest of field well behind with less than 30 points. Mathematically the team needed 15 points to guarantee themselves a victory so they went out and scored 16 points, bringing their final team score to 99 points. The 4x200m team of Sophia Casciano, Juliette Nadeau, Kaitlyn Gorgenyi, and Megan Lawlor finished 3rd, gaining 6 points with a time of 1:49.33. The 4×400 team of Emily Davis, Kirsten Bradley, Analise Gonzalez, and Meredith Griffin had an impressive 1st place finish in 4:15.71, with which they gained 10 points!

Going into the meet, Coach Pintzopolous had made it clear that this meet was an opportunity for everyone to better themselves, regardless of their standing, or what place they finished in. This clearly resonated within the team as countless individuals performed their personal best in numerous events. These athletes were: Maggie McCarthy (55mH), Lauren Gulbicki (55mH and High Jump), Kaitlyn Gorgenyi (55mH and 55m), Alex Richards (55mH), Juliette Nadeau (55m) Megan Lawlor (55m), Kaitlyn Shevlin (55m and long jump), Emily Davis (300m), Grace Hadley (600m), Julia Thorstad (600m), Caitlin Raimo (1000m), Meredith Griffin (one mile), Sophia Casciano (long jump) and Kelly Bratton (Shot Put).

After winning the State Relay title, and now the CAL Open Championship, the Hornets set their sights on making history and winning the school’s first ever Indoor Track and Field Division IV State Championship title which took place after press time on Wednesday February 14. Look for the article on those results in next week’s Transcript.