by Jacob Gurvis
For the third straight year, members of the girls’ indoor track team became State Champions on Saturday, Feb. 23 at home. The team had some struggles to overcome throughout the season, but they didn’t give up, according to senior Meghan Bellerose, a captain along with seniors Carla Forbes and Maeve Larkin.
“We were missing some talented athletes due to injuries and many teams had counted us out because of our 7th place finish in the Division I meet the week before, but our coach was confident that if we all did our best we could still win,” said Bellerose.
The Tigers finished first with 27 points, and were proud to win a third straight title, according to coach Joe Tranchita.
“They took great pride in knowing that they had overcome injuries and illness and were still able to compete and win at the state level,” said Tranchita.
According to Bellerose, the leading scorers for the Tigers were (listed as: name, event, place, time): Bellerose, 600 meter, 2nd place, 1:33.06, senior Madison Nadeau, 300 meter, 6th place, 41.53, junior Michaela Smith, shot put, 2nd place, 38 feet 10 inches, 4×800, 7th place, junior Evie Heffernan, junior Maeve Greeley, junior Elizabeth Koch, and sophomore Isabella Reilly, 9:43.06, 4×400, 3rd place, Bellerose, Nadeau, freshman Cristina Galvagno, senior Julia Berstein, 4:03.23.
Winning is always exciting, and according to Tranchita, this event was no exception. “The biggest highlight was Meghan Bellerose’s school record run in the 600, as she finished second with one of the fastest times ever in state history, and with the sixth best time in the country this year (1:33.06.) Michaela Smith’s second place in the shot put was also key, as it secured another 8 points. Having the meet come down to the final event was also exciting. This was the fourth time this season that has happened, so we were battle tested and handled the pressure really well,” said Tranchita.
With a third straight title, the girls’ indoor track team overcame problems and continued its success.
