Raiders' McPhee Claims Runner-Up Spot in All-State Pole Vault

WESTFIELD — No one vaulted higher, but one girl vaulted first, and Wellesley's Hanna McPhee settled for the runner-up spot in the girls' pole vault Saturday at the MIAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships at Westfield State College.

McPhee, a senior, and Newton North's Steph Brown both cleared 11 feet, but Brown earned the victory because her success came on her first attempt at the height. Fellow Raider Karla Ganley finished seventh in the event, with a vault of 10 feet, making Wellesley the only school to place two girls among the top eight, point-getting spots.

The versatile Ganley also posted the fifth-fastest heat time in the 100-meter hurdles, 15.39, then ran even faster in the final to hold that No. 5 spot, crossing the line in 15.26. Triton Regional's Deanna Latham outleaned Somerville's Nicole Genard to win by .06 of a second, in 14.60.

Carly Daniel missed by just .08 of a second a spot in the 100-meter dash final. Her time of 12.83 seconds was good for 11^th place; Jen Christian of Central won the event in 12.12.

Daniel and Ganley, both sophomores, teamed up with junior Catherine King and freshman Tessa Broholm to lead the girls' four-by-400 meter relay to a ninth-place finish, in 4:02.67. The Tewksbury squad of Jess Bridle, Karie Judge, Sarah Hogan and Arianna Smith took the top spot, in 3:56.02.

Jessie Kaliski finished 10^th in a speedy two-mile field that produced three sub-11-minute times. The junior clocked an 11:24.59. Beverly senior Melissa Chapman was the victor, in 10:52.60.

As a team, the Wellesley girls collected 14 points to finish 17^th overall. The neighboring powerhouses from Newton went 1-2, North edging South for the title, with 40 total points.

For the boys, James Eisenstein, Peter Krirg, David Matera and Chris Moynihan completed the four-by-800 meter relay in 8:03.13, fast enough to finish seventh. Mighty Methuen came within .73 of a second of breaking its own meet record and won by more than three seconds, in 7:52.45.

The two points earned by that Raider foursome constituted the locals' total for the meet. The Wellesley fellas tied for 56^th overall; Andover was the class of the field, racking up 56 points to claim the state title.