Girls Track and Field has started the season with two wins over Dedham and Milton on December 12, and 19. The team beat Dedham with a score of 77-22, with sweeps in the one mile, two mile, 600 meters, and Long Jump. In addition, the team also won the 4×400 meter relay and the 4×200 meter relay against Dedham. Junior Katie Carter was the Athlete of the Meet against Dedham, and junior Maureen Herlihy was the Athlete of the Meet against Milton. The girls defeated Milton 60.5-39.5. Throughout the two meets Walpole has qualified 5 individuals to the MIAA Division III Championships and one relay.
In the distance events, junior Allie Morris ran in the one mile with the fastest time of the night in the Bay State League. Not only did Morris run a time of 5:38, she also qualified for the Division III Championships in February. Teammates senior Ashley Waldron and freshman Delaney Murphy placed second and third. Senior Jackie Applin and sophomore Alyssa Murphy competed in the 2 mile to finish first and second. Both ran a personal record and Applin qualified for the Division III Championships for her first time.
Against Milton, Morris competed in the mile again with a 10 second personal record of 5:28, the fastest mile time of the night and the 16th fastest time in Massachusetts so far. Applin competed in the 1000 meter run for the first time with a qualifying time of 3:21. Senior Captain Kristen Coyne and Murphy both competed in the 2 mile run to qualify for the Division III Championships for the first time. Coyne ran a season best of 12:24, and Murphy was 12:22.
The middle distance events had as much success as the long distance. The 600 meter crew of senior Megan Jenkins, juniors Maureen Herlihy, Emma Hunt, and sophomore Tori Lynch finished first, second, third, and fourth against Dedham. With the exception of Jenkins, this race was the first varsity 600 meter race the girls have competed in. Lynch also took second place in the High Jump. In the 300 meter dash, senior Captain Gina Conti placed first against Dedham, with the second fastest time of the night in the Bay State League with a time of 42.94. Freshmen Lindsey Cordopatri and Kelsey Mozzocco also competed in the 300 meter dash to finish in third and fourth place.
Against Milton, Conti competed in the 600 meters, alongside Jenkins, Herlihy and Hunt and ran the fastest time of the night. Cordopatri and Lynch ran personal records in the 300 meter dash with a time of 48.03 and 48.11. Senior Captain Olivia O’Hara also ran the 300 meters for the first time to place first overall, just out kicking Milton by .03 seconds with a time of 46.44. Herlihy was named Athlete of the Meet because of her 4 second personal record in the 600 and her improvement of 3 seconds in the 4×400 with a split of 67.5
O’Hara, Katie Carter, Brianna Conley competed in the 55 meter dash against Dedham to take first and third. The Rebels swept the Long Jump, with Kondo, Carter, and O’Hara. Carter was considered as the Athlete of Meet because she stepped up last minute to fill in a missing gap because the team originally only had two long jumpers. Carter jumped a two foot personal record and placed second overall. She also competed in the 55 meter hurdles for the first time to finish behind Kondo and junior Claire Rinne. Junior Dmitra Weathers, sophomore Sarah Perkins, and Kondo took first, second, and fourth in the 55 meter dash against Milton.
Senior Captain Anna Orfanidis has taken charge of the shot putters, finishing first overall with an Indoor personal record of 28-08.75. Teammates Erin Leblanc and Jessica Leblanc competed as well.
“I am very proud of Jess for breaking 20 feet and competing in her first varsity meet.” said Orfanidis. Leblanc was Walpole’s most successful shot putter of the night against Milton, for she threw a 2 foot personal record of 25-09.25, also placing second. Orfanidis took first, with a throw of 28-05.25.
With two successful dual meets, the 2-0 Walpole will compete against Norwood on Januray 9, 2014.
