Girls Track Team Earns First Win

The Wilmington High School girls track team sports weaknesses in several events. They covered well for that recently as the Lady Wildcats earned their first win of the season against Stoneham.

Head coach Thomas Bradley's charges snagged a 46-40 road win thanks to strong times by the team's leading competitors.

"We have some terrific athletes," said Bradley.

Among those athletes is Cali Peffer, who was first in the 300-meter run, followed by teammates Alex Bischoff in second and Michelle Barnes in third.

That same trio teamed up with Rachel Alatalo to win the 4x400 relay in the last event of the day to seal the win. The team ran the event in 4 minutes, 18 seconds.

Other strong performers were Kelly Hartsough, who won the 1,000 meter run just ahead of teammate Kate Richardson in second place. Savannah Hubbard was second in the hurdles with a state qualifying time of 9.68 seconds, Alatalo was second in the 600, Sydnee Russo finished second in the mile and Keara MacCorkle was second in the mile.

Field athletes performed well in addition to the team's runners.

Nichole Lunt won the shot put with a 29 foot throw, while Melanie Folk and Jen Kannally also scored.

"It was a nice win," said Bradley. "With 4-5 very good athletes, we should be competitive in every meet.