The sound of blaring sirens could be heard in Harvard center last Saturday night, but the commotion was not reason for alarm. The girls indoor track team had just won its third consecutive Girls Division IV state championship at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. The Trojan women placed a runner in the top three of nearly every event, scoring a total of 74 points. North Reading took a distant second with 35 points, and Pembroke came in third with 26 points.
The day was one of personal bests and surprises for the Bromfield runners. Senior Hillary Lewis, who competed in the 55-meter hurdles, certainly did not break that trend. The star hurdler placed third, breaking her personal best time to finish in 9.20 seconds.
“I ran a decent trial time, which seeded me sixth in the finals,” said Lewis. “All I’ve been working on in practice are my starts, which have really improved, but I had a slow start in the trial. That’s what I was focusing on in the final race.”
Lewis’ hard work and focus paid off in the finals. Seeded in the race with the eighth fastest time, Lewis went into the meet unsure of whether she would even make the finals. “It was definitely a shocker placing third. I would have been happy with eighth,” she said. “It really helped having a couple of fast girls ahead of me for motivation.”
Junior Katherine Finnegan came through as usual in the 300-meter hurdles, crossing the line in second place with a time of 41.94. Freshman Mimi Narbonne also placed an outstanding second in the 600-meter run, clocking a time of 1:39.36.
Bo Dunn and Lisa Reedich teamed up in the 1,000-meter run to rake in the points with a pair of dominant performances. Dunn won the race with a time of 3:04.96, earning 10 points for Bromfield. Reedich finished close behind in third, with a personal best time of 3:07.15.
The distance events were also productive races for Bromfield. In the one-mile run, Liz Lee crossed the line in third place, clocking 5:14.31. Freshmen Emma Rothkopf and Sydney Durand also ran in the event, running personal best times of 5:40.09 and 5:41.09, respectively. Emily Jones won the 2-mile run with a time of 10:31.82 to earn 10 points.
In the 4×800-meter relay, Reedich, Kat Long, Jones, and Dunn teamed up to take home a final first-place finish for Bromfield. Reedich established a lead in the first lap before handing the baton to Long, who widened the gap for Jones. Dunn ran a strong anchor leg to cross the finish line in 9:47.09, outdistancing second place Hamilton-Wenham by nearly half a minute.
The 4×200-meter relay team, made up of Lexie Daniells, Julia Alexander, Kim West, and Finnegan, came in a strong second place with a time of 1:50.88. In the 4×400-meter relay Maddie Darden, Alexander, Narbonne, and Daniells also scored points for Bromfield with a fifth-place finish, clocking a time of 4:07.64.
The all-state meet will take place tonight at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. Bromfield has seven runners in individual events and three relay teams qualified for the event.
Bromfield boys cap off indoor season
Four members of the Bromfield boys indoor track team competed in the Division IV state championship last Saturday. Sophomore Max Flaton and senior captain Alex Calderwood competed in the 2-mile run. Flaton ran a personal best time of 10:19.85 to place ninth and Calderwood took a strong 11th-place finish to cap off his final indoor season for Bromfield. In the one mile, junior Sam Dorward also ran a personal best time, taking eighth in 4:40.87, just three places away from qualifying for the all-state meet. Junior Ben Waldman ran in the 600-meter run, clocking another personal record of 1:29.55.
