Athletics

Meet Summaries

Track, Spring 2008

April 3

In Emma Willard’s opening track meet on Thursday, the Jesters handily defeated Rensselaer while losing to a well-conditioned team from Ichabod Crane. The stiffest opponent of the day, however, was the steady 15 mph wind that blew into the faces of the runners as they pushed toward the finish line.

In the field events, highlights included Alex winning the long jump, Monica (a newcomer to Emma track) taking first in the triple jump, while Caroline, Chi-Chi (another newcomer), and Adeola took second, third, and fourth, respectively, in the high jump.

In the throwing events, Robin threw longest in the shot put, while Rudi (in her first Emma meet) and Robin took second and third in the discus.

On the track Abbi (second), Adeola (third) and Gabi (NS) all ran under 15 seconds for the 100 meters, and into the wind, at that. At 400 meters, Sarah S. and Sophia finished second and fourth; with hurdles at the same distance, Elise ran away from the field for a solid first place. Shelby, returning to the track after a year’s absence, ran a superb tactical race in the 800 meters to dash away with first place in the last lap.

At the longer distances, Danni and Jocelyn ran very strong races in the 1500 meters to finish second and third, while at 3000 meters, Abby stalked the first-place runner to the final 100 meters and used her great kick to be first at the end.

In all, a great start to the season, with all the signs of even better performances to come.

April 10

In Emma Willard’s second track meet, the Jesters track team easily defeated Rensselaer while losing to the always-strong Chatham team. It was a beautiful day for a meet, with sunshine and a light wind.

On the track Abbi took 2nd in the 200 meters, while Gabi, competing at that distance for the first time, made up several places in the last 100 meters to finish 4th. At 400 meters, Sarah S and Katherine finished 2nd and 4th, and, once again, Elise dominated the 400-meter hurdles. The 4 x 100 relay team returned to their form of 2007, easily winning by 25 meters. In the 1500 meters Sophia finished strong to hang on to 2nd place.

In the discus, Rudi broke 100 feet to earn first, and the next three places were taken by Robin, Chi-Chi, and Danielle (in her first Emma track meet), respectively.

In the field events, highlights included Alex winning the long jump, Adeola taking first in the triple jump, while Monica, Chi-Chi, and Marianna finished 3rd, 4th, and 5th respectively in the same event.

April 12

On Saturday, April 12, Emma Willard’s track team returned to the Ichabod Crane track for the Rider Relays. The weather was wonderfully different from the predicted, with plenty of sun, although the winds could have been less of an adversary.

Although the Jesters did not compete in all the events, they still earned a close 3rd to Ichabod Crane and performed strongly against the other teams, many from larger schools.

Because it was a relay meet, there were no individual times or distances. Instead, all races were relays, and the jumping and throwing events combined the top 3 performances from each school for a team score.

Emma Willard surprised everyone but themselves by scoring 1st-place finishes in the following events: the discus (Rudi, Robin, Connie), the shotput (Robin, Connie, Rudi), the high jump (Caroline, Anna, Chi-Chi), the 4x100-meter relay (Alex, Abbi, Elise, Caroline), and the 4x200 relay (Sara S., Gabi, Abbi, Caroline).

The team also earned 2nd in the 4x400 meters (Alex, Shelby, Elise, Sara S) and the triple jump (Monica, Adeola, Chi-Chi), and 3rd in the long jump (Alex, Caroline, Adeola) as well as in the 4x800 meters (Monica, Sydney, Sophia, Katherine).

April 17

In Emma Willard’s fourth track meet, the Jesters hosted and easily defeated Albany Academy for Girls, which was not able to field a complete team. Once again the weather was beautiful, with lots of sunshine and warm temperatures.

On the track Abbi set a PR in the 200 meters, taking 1st place, while Alex was less than a half second behind for 2nd. Although Gabi did not run as a scorer at this distance, she cut 1.5 seconds from her previous time. The 1st/2nd finish order was duplicated in the 100m, with Abbi 1st and Gabi 2nd. In addition, the 1st/2nd finish occurred in the 400 meters (Katherine and Maura), the 400-meter hurdles (Elise and Sarah), the 1500 meters (Danni and Sophia), the 3000 meters (Sydney and Sophia), the high jump (Caroline and Adeola), the long jump (Alex and Caroline), the triple jump (Monica and Annie–PRs for both athletes), discus (Rudi…breaking 100 ft. for the second time…and Robin), and the shotput (Robin and Rudi).

In the 800 meters, a season-best effort for Shelby earned her a close second, while Danni finished 3rd in her first race of the year at this distance.

April 23

In Emma Willard’s fifth track meet the team traveled to Catskill to compete against the host school and Greenville. Once again the weather cooperated, and conditions were excellent.

The Jesters earned first place finishes in the 100- and 400-meter hurdles (Elise), the 100-meter (Caroline) and 200-meter sprints (Abbi), and the 400-meters (Sara S). In addition, there were 1-2 finishes for Emma athletes in the 3000 meters (Sydney and Sophia), the long jump (Alex and Adeola), and the discus (Robin and Rudi), with 1-2-3 placing in the shotput (Robin, Connie and Rudi) and triple jump (Monica, Annie, and Adeola.)

Emma Willard’s balanced scoring was rounded out by 1st-place finishes in the 4x100 relay (Alex, Abbi, Elise, and Caroline) and the 4x400-meter relay (Sara S, Danni, Katherine, and Shelby), second place in the 4x800-meter relay (Monica, Ceren, Sarah H, and Katherine), and a very strong 2-3-4 finish in the 1500 meter run (Danni, Sophia, and Sydney).

Danni earned Emma Athlete-of-the-Meet honors for her personal bests in the 800 and 1500 meters along with a strong performance in her leg of the 4x400-meter relay, a run that paced the relay team to their first-place finish.

At the end, the Jesters had handily defeated both Catskill and Greenville, for a very successful dual meet.

April 29

A selected group of Emma Willard track athletes traveled to the Schenectady Invitational on April 29. The Jesters finished 11th in a field of 17 teams, using strong performances from many individuals and relay teams.

Robin took third in the discus, Rudi fourth in the shot put, and Caroline third in the 100-meter run. The 4x100 relay team (Alex, Adeola, Elise, Caroline) earned sixth overall, while personal best performances were turned in by Gabbi in the 200 meters, Shelby in the 800 meters, along with Danni and Sophia in the 800 meters.

May 19

Cold and blustery conditions greeted the Emma Willard track team when they traveled to the Ravena Invitational on May 19. This did not prevent the setting of four new school records: the 2000-meter steeplechase (Danni,) the 100 meters (Caroline,) the 4x100-meter relay (the second record in three days for Alex, Abbi, Elise, and Caroline,) and the 4x800-meter relay (Sophia, Katherine, Sarah H, Shelby.)

Although at this writing official results have not been posted, there were numerous personal best performances, making the meet worthwhile for the Jesters in all respects.

May 23

Emma Willard completed its regular 2008 track season in fine style on the home track on May 23 with strong wins over Catholic Central and New Lebanon. Before the meet began, the Jesters honored their senior athletes; for many of whom this was the last appearance in their red singlet jerseys. For all their fine performances and dedication to track, kudos go to Nora, Shelby, Sydney, Alex, Marianna, Bretta, Chi-Chi, Abbi, Jocelyn, Danni, and Cammie.

The second event of the meet, the 100-meter hurdles, saw Sara S set a new school record as she took first place. In addition, the 4x100-meter relay team (Alex, Abbi, Elise, Caroline) also set a new school record for the third meet in a row. Other wins included the triple jump (Annie), the 1500-meter run (Sophia,) the 3000-meter run (Sydney,) the 400-meter hurdles (Elise,) the 4x400-meter relay (Danni, Katherine, Shelby, Sarah H) and the 4x800-meter relay (Alex, Sara S, Gabbi, Shelby).

Finally, there were a number of 1-2 finishes in other events:  100-meter hurdles (Sara S., Alex,) the 400 meters (Danni, Katherine,) the 800 meters (Sophia, Maura,) and the 200 meters (Abbi, Gabbi,) with a top three sweep of the discus (Rudi, Robin, Danielle.)

Qualifying Emma track athletes will compete in the sectional meet on May 29 at Ravena.