The
Mansfield Varsity track team had it's first major outside individual
competition of the season, facing many of the top Division 1, 2,3,and 4
athletes from Eastern Massachusetts and Central Massachusetts.
For the most part, the girls did well for themselves, as they
came home with two gold medals and a number of qualifiers for next
week's Elite Meet.
Senior Kristen McDonagh had an exceptional day,
struggling a bit early in the high jump, as she tried to make some
adjustments to her approach. As the heights went up, Kristen
looked more and more comfortable, initially getting a super 5-6 jump
that put some pressure on her chief rival Moira Cronin of Andover.
Cronin responded by clearing 5-6 on her final attempt, but
McDonagh one upped her with a terrific clearance of 5-8, her second
best jump of her career. Cronin had three decent attempts at 5-8,
but could not manage a clearance.
In
the 300, Jen Esposito was
facing one of the fastest girls in Massachusetts track and field
history in Rebecca Robinson. Robinson, who has the fastest time
in the 300
meters this year, and is also the best 55 meter runner in the state
hooked up with Espo in a super fast 300. Robinson, in lane 5 and
Esposito in lane
6, came to the break line with Robinson in a slight lead, as expected.
Robinson went through the 200 in 25.0, with Espo right behind her
at 25.4. Coming off the final turn down the homestretch, Espo was
not able to pull any closer as the fast closing Robinson ran her secod
best time of the season in 39.27. Esposito ran a personal best of
39.82 for second
place. The 39.82 is a school record, surpassing the 40.46 set by
teammate Emily Broyles' run in 2009.
The 4x200 meter relay team
of Kayla Comer, Jess Verbic, Julia Jones and Jen Esposito finally got
their handoffs correct and ran a very competitive 1:45.38. Comer
ran a 26.0, with Verbic clocking a 26.7, Jones hitting 27.4 and
Esposito finishing off with a 25.0. The team took the early lead,
only to be overtaken by Newton North.
Esposito, in second place on her handoff from Jones, quickly moved to the lead to win going away.
Lauren Columbare
continued making a nice comeback with a 23rd place in the 1000 meters.
Her time was 3:11.59, just off her best time of 3:08.27 set last
year. Megan Cole 3:22.64 qualified for the Division 2 State meet
and Jess Grainger ran a 3:26.57.
The three 55 meter hurdlers ran
well again today, all qualifying for the Elite meet next week.
Paige Grimes ran a personal best, as did Kristen McDonagh, while
Dana Foley hung on to get the last qualifying spot.
Katie Dempsey ran a personal best in the mile at 5:44.11, which was good for 60th place overall.
Finally,
the 4x400 relay team had two very good performances in leadoff runner
Molly Jenssen, who ran a very strong 64.3. Anchor Brittany Greene
ran a personal best of 61.5. In between, Jess Verbic and Julia
Jones, coming off a very good 4x200 relay, didn't quite have it in them
to come back as strongly as hoped for. Jones, who had been sick
for a few days, still managed a 62.7, while Verbic just was too pooped
from her 200, as she ran 67.3. The team finished with a time of
4:16.10, good enough for 14th place and a spot in next week's Elite
meet.