Walpole High School Boys and Girls Track competed at Braintree High School for the 2017 Bay State League Conference Championships on May 17—which happened to be the hottest day of the year. While the heat definitely impacted some performances, most sprinters and hurdlers and jumpers viewed the weather as a welcome relief to the rainy spring season thus far.
Sophomore Erin Regan earned herself two personal records in long jump and triple jump. Seeded 4th for Triple Jump, Regan had an impressive PR in her triple jump by ten- inches and earned 2nd overall with a distance of 34.6”. Meanwhile, seeded 12th in the long jump, Regan made it into the finals and had a monster eight-inch PR with a jump of 16’8” to place 6th overall.
“I was really impressed with Erin’s performances at the meet. She has been looking to breaking the 16 foot and 34 foot barriers all season, so I was really proud of her accomplishing both of those goals in the same meet,” said Girls Head Coach Conor Cashman.
The scorching heat seemed to be the most problematic for Walpole’s distance runners. Before the meet, officials notified teams that teammates could pass out water to distance athletes to offset the extreme heat. Sophomore Caroline McGrath placed 3rd overall with a time of 5:24.96a. In the two mile, the Sarah Tierney got 5th place with a time of 12:28 while Camille LoGuidice placed 6th with a time of 12:41.32a. No Walpole girls distance athletes set personal records.
“It was hot during my race, and I feel like we weren’t really use to it being that warm while racing,”said junior Sarah Tierney.
On the boys side, the heat did not stop the hurdlers and sprinters from getting some top places. Senior captain Brandon Kilroy ran a 16.26a to win his preliminary heat; then in the finals, Kilroy ran a season record of 16.02a to take 2nd place overall. Meanwhile, boys senior captain Jack Kennefick in the 400 meter hurdles. Kennefick earned third place with a time of 59.64 seconds.
“I had a poor start to the race,” said Kennefick, “but I was able to pull it together and get a third place finish, even on such a hot day.”
Similarly, the heat did not deter the boys sprinters. In the 4x100m, senior Kevin Pellegrine, senior captain Richard Crowley, sophomore Jack O Meara and Kilroy placed 3rd overall with a time of 44.56a. In the 200m, Walpole had two sprinters compete in the finals: Crowley and O’Meara. In finals, O’Meara placed 8th overall, and Crowley ran a time of 23.07c placing 5th.
“I was very impressed with the performance of all the sprinters, and I am very pleased with my personal performance,” said Crowley.
The Bay State Conference Meet overall does not recognize a team champion; hence, it was really an opportunity for individual athletes to compete with the top athletes in the conference before the divisional meets this weekend. For Walpole, they will compete at the Division II Meet at New Bedford Regional High School on Saturday, May 27.
