The Walpole Track and Field team kicked off their first home meet of the 2013 spring season. On April 17, both girls and boys competed against their arch rival: the Wellesley Raiders. The girls team lost 67-69, a score that has been the closest to any other meets this season. This meet, however; was the most astonishing coach Conor Cashman has ever been apart of. “This team is the best 0-4 team I have ever coached.”
The girls had their strongest day in every event from the 2 mile to the shot put. To start the meet Walpole won the long jump, triple jump, shot put, discus, and javelin. Senior Captain Maddy Shea jumped a PR in the long jump with 17’2”. This was Shea’s first PR in the jumping event since junior year. Freshman Rosie McCarthy also jumped a PR, with 15’9”. Junior Olivia O’Hara jumped a 2 foot PR in the triple jump, jumping 34’0.5”. Freshman Hiromi Kondo stole second place, behind O’Hara: 32’7”, with a PR.
First in shot put and javelin, was sophomore Summer King. King PR’d in both events, throwing 31’10”in the shot put, and 98’8” in javelin. King qualified for the Division II State meet in both events. Senior Captain Michelle Monahan threw 96’2′ in the discus to take first place.
The Rebels used the jumping and throwing events to their advantage against Wellesley, knowing their sprints and distances were strong. As well as competing in the long jump, Shea battled two of the fastest sprinters in the Bay State League: Emily Ryan and Ally Isley. Ryan placed first in both the 100m dash and 200m dash while Isley finished in second. Shea placed third in the 100m dash and second in the 200m dash, and ran season best times. In the 400m dash, junior Gina Conti stole first place with a 61.5.
In the distance events, Walpole took first place in the 800m and 1 mile. Sophomore Lucy Lynch crossed the line .02 seconds ahead of Wellesley’s Liana Tabtiang. Lynch ran a PR of 2:30.2 but missed the Divsion II State qualifying time by .03 seconds. In the 1 mile run, Senior Captain Megan Peterson tied her PR, running 5:45 to finish first, and junior Mackenzie Wilson finished behind her with another PR of 5:53. Junior Kristen Coyne competed in the 2 mile and placed second with a 1 second PR with 12:23.
The Walpole girls held their own throughout the entire meet, coming down to the 4×400 meter relay. Before the relay had started the Rebels were down by 7 points. The winning team of the relay recieves 5 points. The second place relay recieves none. The girls knew it was imperitive to win the relay to closen the score. Throughout the duaration of the relay the team was behind by 40 meters, but eventually come out on top with their anchor leg. Even though the girls lost by 2 points, this score was the closest and most competitve meet the team has ever encountered with Conor Cashman as coach. “Although the meet ended in a loss, I am proud of all the effort that the team put in and the person goals that were achieved” said Captain Megan Peterson.
On April 17, the Rebel girls came back to another home meet against the State Champtionship team: Newton North. The Newton North Tigers are known in the state of Massachusestts for their Track and Field success.
The Tigers came to race, and the Rebels did not. The success shown in the meet against Wellesley was not brought to the same occasion the following week. The Rebels failed to rise to the occastion to compete against the best team in the state.
Throughout the meet, the Rebel’s were crowned only 5 first place finishes, in the 100m dash, long jump, and triple jump. In the 100m dash Maddy Shea placed first with a 12.8, and placed first in the long jump with 16’5.5”. Olivia O’Hara won the triple jump with 32’6”. Neither of the girls had a PR but both rose to the occastion to score 15 points. Another 10 points were scored in the 4×100 meter relay and 4×400 meter relay.
In the discus, shot put, javelin, and triple jump the girls placed second. Michelle Monahan placed in the discus, as well as Summer King placing in the shot put and javelin. Along with O’Hara was Hiromi Kondo. Kondo jumped 32’3”.
In the distance events, the Rebels recieved 6 points, from Lucy Lynch and Gina Conti. Lynch placed second in the 2 mile, and Conti placed second in the 400m with a PR of 60.2.
The Rebel’s were vulnerable to the Tigers, which caused the athletes to step back to allow the state winners leeway to more success.
