With so many variables, it’s never easy. But we’ll give it our best shot predicting who we feel will be some of our top track & field athletes this outdoor season. Here we feature the girls’ sprinting events, which includes the 100m, 200m and 400m
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100m
In the 55-meter dash this past indoor campaign, the competition was close, often making it difficult to determine who would be our state’s best by the end of the season. Expect the same here in the 100m where we have a number of athletes that are capable of striking it rich at the Meet of Champions in early June. The top two finishers from last year’s MOC are coming back with individual winner Sarah Claflin of Pembroke (PR, 12.01 seconds) and Framingham’s Abby Desmarais (PR, 12.23) returning for their final season. Both enjoyed successful winter season, and finished second and third in the short dash, respectively, at the MOC with Claflin timed in a PR of 7.01 and Desmarais crossing the line with a best of 7.03. You certainly have to keep an eye on Lauren Quarm. The Methuen sophomore came on strong at the end of the indoor season and shocked the competition, and perhaps herself, when she broke seven seconds at the MOC to capture the individual title with a time of 6.95. Quarm was ranked No. 11 in the state in the 100m last year with a 12.40 best at the New Balance Nationals. Based on what she did during indoor, she appears capable of improving on that time significantly with a chance to do some damage up front come championship time. Other top sprinters include Norton’s Jillian Strynar, Wellesley’s Annie Comella, Mansfield’s Abigail Scott, and Wachusett’s Nyah Santana, just to name a few.
200m
This event appears wide open with several returnees with sub 25-second best to their credit. Claflin, who did not compete at the MOC last year, owns the fastest time of the bunch with her winning time and PR of 24.58 from the Division 4 Championship. Scott was the runner-up at the MOC where she posted her all-time best of 24.85. Breanna Braham of Dennis-Yarmouth (PR, 24.87) and Desmarais (PR, 24.94), who were third and fourth at the MOC, are the others that broke 25 seconds in 2023.
400m
Here’s another take-your-pick event. The early favorite is versatile junior Guiliana Ligor of North Reading. Ligor was the Division 4 champion last spring where she ran a best of 56.31. She followed that effort by placing third at the MOC in 57.03, tops among all our returnees from that meet. Ligor had a mega-successful indoor campaign where she was the state 600m and Pentathlon champion and also an All American with a fifth-pace showing in the Pentathlon at the New Balance Nationals. There’s also junior Rahma Giwa of Wschusett, a runner-up at the D1 meet last May where she clocked a best of 56.87. Whitinsville Christian’s’s Avery Glidden, one of just three runners that broke 40 seconds for the 300m this winter, is another runner that can’t be ignored. She consistently ran in the 57-second range last year with a best of 57.24 at the Nike Indoor Nationals. Among others are D-Y’s Braham, Aponequet’s Morgan Hayward, and Marlborough’s Ava VanBuskirk, who all broke 58 seconds last year.
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