Girls Track Shows Great Range

The Wellesley High girls' track and field team took third place Friday at the Eastern Massachusetts Division II Championships.

The team was led by senior Hanna McPhee, who won the pole vault, and sophomore Karla Ganley, who finished first in the 100-meter hurdles and third in the vault.

Wellesley placed in the top six in six other events at Cawley Stadium in Lowell to accumulate 45 points behind champion Mansfield High's 86 points and runner-up Tewksbury High's 68 points. Central Catholic in Lawrence won the boys' competition.

Wellesley's dominance in the pole vault has been evident throughout the season. Last week, at the Division II State Relay meet, McPhee and Ganley teamed up with Jessica Pedersen to take the win with the highest combined height. McPhee, who will vault at Brown University next year, said Ganley has helped her reach new heights.

"We always push each other in practice and go back-and-forth in competition," she said. "I owe her a lot of my [personal-bests]."

Ganley also helps keep McPhee focused during meets.

"She's great to compete with," McPhee said of her taller teammate. "She's always in the zone, ready to go."

With the win in hand at 11 feet even, McPhee went for a personal-best of 11 feet, 3 inches, just 3 inches shy of the meet record. On her first attempt, she barely scraped the bar on her way down but knocked it off. On her second attempt, she landed awkwardly on her right ankle, injuring it, and had to pass on a third try.

"I felt really good today," she said. "I wish I had a third attempt."

McPhee did return for the 4x100-meter relay, where Wellesley finished eighth, and said she'll be ready to go next week at the All-State Meet, which determines the state champion.

The top four competitors in each event Friday from each Division across the state, along with the next 15 best performances overall, move on to the meet. It will be held at Westfield State College at 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 5.

Ganley was third with a vault of 10 feet, 6 inches. She won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.33 seconds.

Wellesley showed great range on the track from the sprints, where sophomore Carly Daniel placed third in the 100-meter dash with a 12.65, to the distance events, where junior Jessie Kaliski was third in the 2-mile run. Kaliski led a large chase pack for most of the race and then pulled away from it in the last two laps for an 11:27.07.

Sophomore Priyanka Fouda placed in the mile, finishing sixth in 5:18.67, and freshman Tessa Broholm also finished sixth in the 400-meter hurdles. Wellesley's 4x400-meter relay team, anchored by Ganley, and 4x800-meter relay team, anchored by Fouda, placed fourth and sixth, respectively.

On the boys' side, junior Peter Krieg was seventh in the 2-mile with a 9:46.72, and senior Matt White was ninth in the 800-meter in 1:57.98. Both runners still have a legitimate chance to make the All-State Meet.

The boys' 4x800-meter relay team finished seventh in 8:15.90.