LEX GIRLS TURN IN HISTORIC PERFORMANCES AT ALL-STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Meet Information
MIAA All-State Championships
June 26, 2021
Norwell High School - Norwell, MA
RESULTS
NORWELL, MA - Saturday The Minutemen were back in Norwell for a hot and muggy all day affair to decide the State Championship. The lone boy competing for LHS was team captain Jarret Dlugy. Unfortunately the senior did not have the best day in the Discus, finishing 14th overall with a throw of 120'0". Despite the disappointing end to his career, Dlugy has helped laid the foundation for the young and upcoming throws program at LHS - aka "The Bomb Squad" - and his leadership on and off the track will be impossible to replace. Overall the boys finished with 8 points, putting themselves in a tie for 32nd place out of 80 teams. Acton-Boxborough took home the crown with 47 points.
While the boys had a tough day at the track, the girls meet was a different story for The Minutemen. For starters, every girl who competed for LHS on Saturday turned in a personal best performance. Along with that, and while only scoring in four events, the girls put up 27 points to finish fifth overall. Westford Academy won the State Championship with 40.50 points. But PRs alone were not the story of the day, as the girls turned in two LHS records and a #2 all-time mark in school history. Coming into the meet as the top seed in the 400m Dash, and the school record holder in the event, superstar sprinter Aleia Gisolfi-McCready faced the toughest test of her career in Tewksbury senior and reigning 1000m National Champion, 600m State Record Holder, and recently crowned 800m State Champion Makayla Paige. When the gun fired Gisolfi-McCready powered out of the blocks and slowly began reeling in Paige who was running one lane outside of her. The gap narrowed around the final turn and the two were shoulder-to-shoulder as they came to the top of the straight. As she did at the Divisional Championships, the senior found another gear and thundered down the homestretch to win the race with a new personal best and LHS record time of 55.25 seconds. While this was going on on the track, freshman Quin Tandeih had uncorked a 106-foot throw in the prelims of the Discus to get herself into finals. On her second throw of the finals, the only underclassmen left in the competition dropped an absolute bomb that went 113'11". That throw missed Kathy Yang's (LHS '98) school record by a mere one-inch. However, it was still good enough to place the freshman fourth overall and was a PR by over five feet.
Earlier in the meet, Elena Sabin was seeded 19th coming into the 400m Intermediate Hurdles. Running from the first of three sections, the LHS junior ran a PR of 1:07.11 to narrowly win her heat by a three one-hundredths of a second. That time would hold up over the next two heats to vault herself up to 10th place overall. Along with Sabin's big day, junior captain Mari McBride was able to place seventh overall in the High Jump with a leap of 5'2". While this was a few inches off her PR of 5'5", McBride had one final event to bring her best. And she did just that.
The girls 4x400m Relay was seeded seventh after running 4:03.36 at Divisionals last weekend. However, that team did not feature Gisolfi-McCready, so The Minutemen's "A-Team" was ready to show the state what they could do on its biggest stage. McBride got things off to a hot start as she blasted away from the field over the first 300m. She continued to pour it on down the homestretch and handed off to senior Catherine Movsessian after running a huge PR split of 58.2 seconds. Movsessian then cruised around the track and maintained the lead for The Minutemen with a 59.6 split - breaking the illusive 60 second barrier for the first time. On the third leg senior captain Aylin Bruce, who has run the 4x400 for LHS in each of the last four All-State meets, was overtaken by Newton North's Grace Doherty on the backstretch. However, the Tigers' lead was short lived as Bruce swung off the turn and dashed back into the lead with Gisolfi-McCready waiting on the anchor. Bruce came through in a brisk 60.7, and when she handed off to Gisolfi-McCready the crowd knew she would not relinquish that lead and the only thing left in question was how fast were the girls going to run. A dive at the finish line capped off a stellar 55.8 anchor leg that gave The Minutemen the victory with a season best time of 3:54.23. In addition to being the fastest time run in Massachusetts since Mansfield set the State Record in 2014, that time broke the previous LHS Record run in 2013 by Camila Isern (LHS '13), Alex Cox (LHS '16), Olivia Manickas-Hill (LHS '15), and Robin Gross (LHS '13) by nearly a full second.
Final Girls Team Scores (Top 10)
1. Westford Academy - 40.5
2. Wellesley - 34
3. Concord-Carlisle - 31
4. Newton North - 28.5
5. Lexington - 27
6. Milford - 25
7. North Reading - 24
8. Framingham - 23
9. Burlington - 22
10. Sabis International Charter - 20
Final Boys Team Scores (Top 10)
1. Acton-Boxborough - 47
2. Stoughton - 37
2. Saint John's Prep - 37
4. Newton North - 34
4. Lincoln-Sudbury - 34
6. Concord-Carlisle - 23
7. Lowell - 22
8. Hingham - 21
9. Framingham - 20
10. North Andover - 19
32. Lexington - 8
Saturday proved to be a tremendous day for the LHS team. Records and performances aside, the team navigated through one of the most tumultuous years in recent memory. Between the COVID restrictions, constant rescheduling of practices and meets, and the sudden loss of LHS Hall of Fame athlete and coach Lisa George-Cox, these athletes had every reason to not make it happen this year. But that is simply not in their DNA. They continued to show up every day with a fantastic attitude, a commitment to working hard at their craft, and they were absolute nails at the biggest moments of the season. A handful of student athletes will now travel to the Nationals Championships, but to all those who have completed their season - and some their careers - it has been a pleasure to watch you carry on the legacy of LHS Track & Field. The future is bright for our program because of you.
Up Next
The Minutemen will travel to Eugene, Oregon next week for The Outdoor Nationals. "Track Town USA" hosted the NCAA Division 1 Championships earlier this month, and is currently hosting the USATF Olympic Trials before making way for the nation's best prep talent. For LHS competition starts on Thursday, July 1st as the girls 4x400m Relay will run at noon. Nationals can be streamed live for free here.
MIAA All-State Championships
June 26, 2021
Norwell High School - Norwell, MA
RESULTS
NORWELL, MA - Saturday The Minutemen were back in Norwell for a hot and muggy all day affair to decide the State Championship. The lone boy competing for LHS was team captain Jarret Dlugy. Unfortunately the senior did not have the best day in the Discus, finishing 14th overall with a throw of 120'0". Despite the disappointing end to his career, Dlugy has helped laid the foundation for the young and upcoming throws program at LHS - aka "The Bomb Squad" - and his leadership on and off the track will be impossible to replace. Overall the boys finished with 8 points, putting themselves in a tie for 32nd place out of 80 teams. Acton-Boxborough took home the crown with 47 points.
While the boys had a tough day at the track, the girls meet was a different story for The Minutemen. For starters, every girl who competed for LHS on Saturday turned in a personal best performance. Along with that, and while only scoring in four events, the girls put up 27 points to finish fifth overall. Westford Academy won the State Championship with 40.50 points. But PRs alone were not the story of the day, as the girls turned in two LHS records and a #2 all-time mark in school history. Coming into the meet as the top seed in the 400m Dash, and the school record holder in the event, superstar sprinter Aleia Gisolfi-McCready faced the toughest test of her career in Tewksbury senior and reigning 1000m National Champion, 600m State Record Holder, and recently crowned 800m State Champion Makayla Paige. When the gun fired Gisolfi-McCready powered out of the blocks and slowly began reeling in Paige who was running one lane outside of her. The gap narrowed around the final turn and the two were shoulder-to-shoulder as they came to the top of the straight. As she did at the Divisional Championships, the senior found another gear and thundered down the homestretch to win the race with a new personal best and LHS record time of 55.25 seconds. While this was going on on the track, freshman Quin Tandeih had uncorked a 106-foot throw in the prelims of the Discus to get herself into finals. On her second throw of the finals, the only underclassmen left in the competition dropped an absolute bomb that went 113'11". That throw missed Kathy Yang's (LHS '98) school record by a mere one-inch. However, it was still good enough to place the freshman fourth overall and was a PR by over five feet.
Earlier in the meet, Elena Sabin was seeded 19th coming into the 400m Intermediate Hurdles. Running from the first of three sections, the LHS junior ran a PR of 1:07.11 to narrowly win her heat by a three one-hundredths of a second. That time would hold up over the next two heats to vault herself up to 10th place overall. Along with Sabin's big day, junior captain Mari McBride was able to place seventh overall in the High Jump with a leap of 5'2". While this was a few inches off her PR of 5'5", McBride had one final event to bring her best. And she did just that.
The girls 4x400m Relay was seeded seventh after running 4:03.36 at Divisionals last weekend. However, that team did not feature Gisolfi-McCready, so The Minutemen's "A-Team" was ready to show the state what they could do on its biggest stage. McBride got things off to a hot start as she blasted away from the field over the first 300m. She continued to pour it on down the homestretch and handed off to senior Catherine Movsessian after running a huge PR split of 58.2 seconds. Movsessian then cruised around the track and maintained the lead for The Minutemen with a 59.6 split - breaking the illusive 60 second barrier for the first time. On the third leg senior captain Aylin Bruce, who has run the 4x400 for LHS in each of the last four All-State meets, was overtaken by Newton North's Grace Doherty on the backstretch. However, the Tigers' lead was short lived as Bruce swung off the turn and dashed back into the lead with Gisolfi-McCready waiting on the anchor. Bruce came through in a brisk 60.7, and when she handed off to Gisolfi-McCready the crowd knew she would not relinquish that lead and the only thing left in question was how fast were the girls going to run. A dive at the finish line capped off a stellar 55.8 anchor leg that gave The Minutemen the victory with a season best time of 3:54.23. In addition to being the fastest time run in Massachusetts since Mansfield set the State Record in 2014, that time broke the previous LHS Record run in 2013 by Camila Isern (LHS '13), Alex Cox (LHS '16), Olivia Manickas-Hill (LHS '15), and Robin Gross (LHS '13) by nearly a full second.
Final Girls Team Scores (Top 10)
1. Westford Academy - 40.5
2. Wellesley - 34
3. Concord-Carlisle - 31
4. Newton North - 28.5
5. Lexington - 27
6. Milford - 25
7. North Reading - 24
8. Framingham - 23
9. Burlington - 22
10. Sabis International Charter - 20
Final Boys Team Scores (Top 10)
1. Acton-Boxborough - 47
2. Stoughton - 37
2. Saint John's Prep - 37
4. Newton North - 34
4. Lincoln-Sudbury - 34
6. Concord-Carlisle - 23
7. Lowell - 22
8. Hingham - 21
9. Framingham - 20
10. North Andover - 19
32. Lexington - 8
Saturday proved to be a tremendous day for the LHS team. Records and performances aside, the team navigated through one of the most tumultuous years in recent memory. Between the COVID restrictions, constant rescheduling of practices and meets, and the sudden loss of LHS Hall of Fame athlete and coach Lisa George-Cox, these athletes had every reason to not make it happen this year. But that is simply not in their DNA. They continued to show up every day with a fantastic attitude, a commitment to working hard at their craft, and they were absolute nails at the biggest moments of the season. A handful of student athletes will now travel to the Nationals Championships, but to all those who have completed their season - and some their careers - it has been a pleasure to watch you carry on the legacy of LHS Track & Field. The future is bright for our program because of you.
Up Next
The Minutemen will travel to Eugene, Oregon next week for The Outdoor Nationals. "Track Town USA" hosted the NCAA Division 1 Championships earlier this month, and is currently hosting the USATF Olympic Trials before making way for the nation's best prep talent. For LHS competition starts on Thursday, July 1st as the girls 4x400m Relay will run at noon. Nationals can be streamed live for free here.