The Newton North girls track team won their second straight outdoor state title on Saturday scoring 39 points, four ahead of Andover and seven ahead of Lincoln-Sudbury.
Unlike L-S (three wins) and Andover (two wins), the Tigers didn't win a single individual event or relay. Instead they scored in three field events (22 points), three running events (12 points), and a relay (5 points). By my count, the Tigers had nine athletes in the meet; eight of them scored individually or as part of the fourth-place 4x800 team, and the ninth -- Meghan Gentile -- came within five inches of scoring in the shot put.
Despite its depth, the championship didn't come easily for North. They didn't have the defending state pole vault champion (Stephanie Brown) or a key leg of their 4x400 team (Maddie Nadeau) due to injuries. And in a strange twist, they prevailed in spite of the fact that their best relay team did not run, and their best athlete never set foot on the track.
Carla Forbes didn't run a race, but accounted for 14 points by placing second in the triple jump (39-08.5) and third in the long jump (18-05.5). Tatiana Froelich and Ellen Goldberg placed 3rd and 6th in the discus for another 8 points. On the track, Kayla Wong finished 2nd in the 100m hurdles, running 14.81. Margo Gillis placed 7th in the 800 (2:19.06) and Evie Heffernan ran 5:07.77 for 7th in the mile.
And that brings us to the relays. With North missing Nadeau in the 4x400, Coach Tranchita moved Gillis from the 4x400 to the 4x800. Gillis led off (2:20), followed by Meghan Bellerose (2:25), Maggie Heffernan (2:28), and Evie Heffernan (2:20) to finish fourth (0.01 behind third) for the 5 points that would win them the meet.
A final thought about the 2011 North team. It might be eclipsed by the 2012 North team. Of those 39 points, only 11 were scored by seniors.
On the boys side, Mansfield was racking up points on its way to a dominant victory, but the NN boys were always in the hunt for second place.
Swardiq Mayanja placed 3rd in the shot put with a throw of 53-06.5, and took 6th in the discus with a mark of 145-06.
In the 400m, Isaiah Penn battled Waltham's Nathan Pierre Louis, finally settling for 2nd in a time of 49.04. In a very competitive mile with no clear favorite, Ezra Lichtman placed 5th in 4:21.78, behind Wesley Gallagher's 4:19.24 win.
North's final event was the 4x400, and the Tigers (Clark, Lichtman, Hart, Penn) placed 7th in 3:27.80. Their 23 total points left them behind Mansfield (49) and Acton-Boxboro (29), and tied with Andover.
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8 comments:
What was Madison's injury that did not allow her to compete?
hip flexor strain
That's too bad- heard it was an elbow injury
Congrats to the NN coaches and athletes on getting it done yet again. In the year Coach tranchita entered the MSTCA HOF it is only fitting the Tigers got the win.
Why did Forbes not run?
She also was set to run on the 4x400 relay that was scrapped. She had qualified in long jump, triple jump and 4x400.
heard it wasnt an injury
It was an injury, and a painful one at that.
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