LHS Girls Track Remains Undefeated, Wins Middlesex League Title

The  girls’ indoor track team can call itself Middlesex League champion after topping Burlington High School 57-29 at the LHS fieldhouse on Tuesday, Feb. 8.

“The girls ran out of their minds,” said LHS coach Emmet O’Brien. “They were great. They stepped up. We knew it was going to be a very competitive meet and Burlington is a great team – they have some really wonderful runners – and our girls just performed so well today that the score was a lot higher for us than expected.

“We were 9-0,” O’Brien continued. “If Burlington had beaten us, it would have been a three-way tie for first place with us, Reading and Burlington. But that didn’t happen.”

Lexington won eight of the night’s nine events.

Lexington sophomore Saaya Maeda won the 2-mile in 12:41.3, beating Burlington senior Jennifer Hamvas by nearly six seconds (12:47.9). Lexington senior Lauren Carter earned third in 13:06.2, sophomore Allison Jakob placed fourth in 13:09.7 and freshman Emma Vaughan finished fifth in 13:14.4. Burlington senior Kalpita Patel placed sixth in 13:55.4.

In the 1,000-meter run, Lexington senior Caroline Hammond won in 3:17.4. Sophomore Kristen Fiore placed second in 3:17.8, junior Alison Boreiko was third in 3:20.4 and senior Eleanor Rask placed fifth in 3:25.4. Burlington senior Kristin Humphreys earned fourth (3:22.6) and sophomore Brianna MacDonald finished sixth (3:40.1).

Lexington sophomore Camila Isern took the victory in the 600 meters in 1:46.3, just 1 second ahead of Burlington senior Erin Rielly (1:47.3). Lexington junior Emily Walker placed third (1:54.3) and junior Kendra Tiani finished fourth (1:54.4). Burlington sophomores Amy MacDonald (1:59.7) and Danielle Coveno (1:59.8) placed fifth and sixth, respectively.

In the 300-meter run, Lexington junior Shannon Boudett won in 45.1 seconds. Senior Andrea Caouette placed second (45.3) and freshman Catherina Sillari finished fifth (49.5). Burlington junior Eva Mayo earned third (48.4) and freshman Nicole Hardy placed fifth (48.5).

Junior Sarah Foster won the 1-mile race for Lexington in 5:34.4; nearly 17 seconds in front of Burlington senior Jacklyn Jensen, who earned second with a time of 5:51.6. LHS senior Corinne Counsell finished third (6:02.1) and senior Aviva Mattingly placed fourth (6:03.0). Burlington senior Lauren Boyle earned fifth in 6:16.1 and sophomore Alison Pflanz finished sixth (6:20.1).

In the 55-meter hurdles, Lexington sophomore Mary Domings won in 6.9 seconds, beating Burlington senior Katie O’Connor (7.2). Lexington senior Sheridan Adley placed third in 7.3, Burlington senior Jennifer Sheldon finished fourth (7.4), junior Katie Desmond took fifth (7.9) and Lexington senior Emma Masterson placed sixth (8.0).

Lexington sophomore Tulie Finley-Moise won in the 55-meter dash in 5.5 seconds, over Burlington junior Elizabeth Burkhard (6.1). Lexington senior Quincy Snellings (6.2) and freshman Noam Grunfeld (6.4) earned third and sixth, respectively. Burlington junior Devon Doherty (6.2) and freshman Valentina Lopez (6.4) placed fourth and fifth, respectively.

Burlington took the top three spots in the shot put. Senior Ashley Steadman took first (34 feet, 0.5 inches), senior Taylor Steinberg earned second (27-10) and senior Melissa Mantia placed third (27-6). Senior Corinna DiSanto finished fifth (27-3.5). For Lexington, Adley took fifth (26-6), junior Corey Michon earned sixth (23-3), junior Julia Fernandes placed seventh (30-6) and sophomore Thaya Psyhojos finished eighth (25-7.75).

In the high jump, Lexington’s Boudett won (4-10) and Finley-Moise placed sixth (4-2). Burlington senior Elizabeth Johnson took second (4-8), senior Catie Riggs placed third (4-6), sophomore Paige Linehan earned fourth (4-6) and sophomore Eleni Klesaris finished fifth (4-4) 

O'Brien said his team knew it had to have a smart meet, place in events and earn points.

"They knew that they had to get a first, second or third,” O’Brien said. “It was a smart running day. We trained all season. You try to train so that you peak at the right times and the girls peaked at the right time.

“’Tomorrow will be an easy day, a fun day,” O’Brien continued. “We’ll talk about today and the season and we’ll start really training probably later in the week or on the weekend. Next week will be more serious.

"We have some great senior leadership. But we have a lot of juniors and sophomores and freshmen who really had an amazing season this year, so the future looks good.”

Next up, Lexington runs in the MIAA Division 1 Championship on Friday, Feb. 18.