For the first time since 2008, the Bromfield girls’ track team is division champion. The girls placed first at the MIAA Division 2 Central/West Championships on Saturday, May 30, at Westfield State.
Bromfield produced many stellar performances, with top scorers junior Amy Hunter, senior Brianna Harte, and freshman Chloe Alfieri bringing in 20.5, 10, and 5 points respectively. Hunter placed first in the triple jump with a distance of 35 feet 10 inches and second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.54 seconds, breaking the Bromfield school record by 0.16 seconds. Harte won discus with a distance of 111 feet 5 inches, and Alfieri placed seventh in the 200m at 30.51 seconds and sixth in the 400m at 1 minute 1.39 seconds.
In the 4×100-meter relay, Bromfield’s Hunter, sophomore Sarah Doben, junior Suzy Opalka, and sophomore Natalie O’Leary placed first, missing the school record by just 0.04 seconds. The girls will go on to compete at the state championship meet, which could be their last opportunity to break the elusive record unless they place high enough there to move on to the New England championship meet.
Shocked and overjoyed
Expecting not to place at all because of the team’s relatively small size, the 17 Bromfield girls who competed at divisionals left before the winners were announced; fortunately, Coach David Boisvert stayed behind to clean up and was present to collect the trophy. When one of their coaches received the call announcing their new title of division champion, the girls were shocked and overjoyed. Opalka recalls, “There was a lot of screaming and then a two-hour singalong.”
When the team arrived at Bromfield around 9:30 p.m., the girls ran through the halls screaming, with trophy in hand—until it slipped from their grasp in the excitement and broke. Fortunately, Coach David Boisvert came to the rescue with some super glue. Not even the combination of a fragile trophy, a 5-foot drop, and a tile floor could stop these Bromfield girls on Saturday.
Athletes who placed eighth or higher in their events will compete at the All-State Championship meet at Fitchburg on Saturday, June 6.
Placement statistics
(excluding preliminary trial performances in events with finals)
- 100-meter – 2, Amy Hunter, 12.54
- 100m high hurdles – 10, Anya Begue, 17.48
- 200m – 7, Chloe Alfieri, 30.51
- 2-mile – 20, Kate Toll, 12 minutes 48.93 seconds
- 400m hurdles – 11, Maddie Steele, 1:13.11
- 400m – 6, Alfieri, 1:01.39
- 4x100m relay – 1, Sarah Doben, Suzy Opalka, Natalie O’Leary, Hunter, 51.21
- 4x400m relay – 19, Steele, Sophie Beckman, Nina Sklar, Doben, 4:36.44
- 4x800m relay – 19, Toll, Beckman, Sklar, Tessa McClain, 11:15.63
- Discus – 1, Brianna Harte, 111 feet 5 inches; 22, Julia LeBlanc, 79-7
- High jump – 10, Grace Turnbull, 5-0; 23, Beckman, 4-8; 26, Samantha Schoenberg, 4-6
- Javelin – None
- Long jump – 29, Harriet Holmes, 14-10
- 1-mile – 16, McClain, 5:48.37
- Pole vault – 3, Arielle Sclar, 9-0; 7, Holmes, 8-0; 8, Opalka, 7-6
- Shot put – 23, Harte, 29-10.25
- Triple jump – 1, Hunter, 35-10
Lily Moore-Eissenberg is a junior at the Bromfield School.
