Outdoor T&F Preview: Girls’ Throwing Events

Shot

Familiar faces from the indoor season should once again battle it out inside the circle this spring. Among those athletes are five that have gone further than 40 feet with indoor champion Brooke Serak of Bishop Feehan, Dedham’s Catherine Sargent (41-5.5), Peabody’s Aaliyah Callahan (40-11), Lowell’s Ronny Jones (40-11) and Ludlow’s Elena Chaplin (40-8.25). Jones was third in this event last year. Chaplin (fifth) and Serak (eighth) also made the podium,

Discus

The top returnee is Jones. In her first year competing in this event last spring, the Lowell senior won the Division 1 title with a PR of 120 -11 and was fourth at the Meet of Champions. The versatile Jones, the indoor D1 shot champion and a top sprinter, gets the favorite nod. But Jones will have some strong competition to contend with this season. Walpole’s Sophia Axelrod, a seventh-place finishers at the MOC, has a best of 118-6. Franklin’s Lily DeForge (115-8), Andover’s Kathleen Yates (113-0), Dedham’s Catherine Sargent (111-10) and Makenna Dube (110-8) are a few others that could make things interesting. Deforge and Dube were sixth and eighth, respectively, at MOC.

Javelin

Defending state champion Norah Kobaly of Littleton will be looking to make it two in a row in this event, In-state Kobaly was unbeaten last year, including her victory over top seed and graduating senior Cailtlin Dumouchel of Mansfield at the Meet of Champions where she had her PR of 129-6. Weymouth sophomore Ainsely Weber, another underclassman, was seventh at MOC and third in the Emerging Elite division at the Nike Indoor Nationals where she had her best of 122-11.25. A host of other athletes should make this event competitive this spring, including Arlington’s Fiona Rigby (120-11), Stoughton’s Maya Ashu (120-2), Franklin’s Elizabeth Hopkins (119-1) and Hudson’s Savannah Gao (118-8).