She was boxed in after the first lap and with still about 150 meters to go in her 400m race was in fourth place.
But like Giuliana Ligor often does when she faces top competition, the North Reading senior found a away to break free. She found a way make things happen by the time she crossed the finish line at Sunday’s MSTCA Northeast Invitational.
In the final day of the three-day competition at the Reggie Lewis Center, Ligor was crowned a champion. The Hornets’ multiple all-stater earned gold with a time of 57.54. She led four more under a minute in the race with Natick’s Chloe Elder (second, 59.02), Boston Latin’s Leanna Lynch (third, 59.28), DSuxbury’s Liv Coperine (fourth, 59.62) and Wachusett’s Raha Giwa (fifth, 59.,75) securing those spots.
“I wanted to definitely get out hard in that first 50 meters because indoors you can get boxed in easily. You saw that happen to me at the 200-meter mark,” Ligor said. “My coach told me to make a move on the backstretch that last 200, and that’s exactly what I did. Passing the (leaders) it hurt but it was the only way to do it. Overall it was pretty good. It’s still pretty early in the season.”
The Northeast Invite was the North Reading standout’s fourth meet of the season and her first individual race against statewide competition. On Friday, she also anchored her team to a third-place finish in the Sprint Medley Relay.
The defending 600m state titlist and reigning 400m and 400m hurdle outdoor champion, talked about a few goals she’s set forth in her final year as a high-schooler, one that comes after a memorable spring campaign in 2024 where she erased a 13-year-old mark in the 400m IH with a sub 59-second performance.
“For indoor, I am kind of moving down with more of a sprinter body now,” she said. “I am obviously sticking with the 600m. I love that race, so we want to see what we can do there. Maybe do some more damage in the 300m. Come outdoor, the lovely 400m hurdles. I can’t wait for that. And the 400, just see what we can do there. It’s my senior year. It’s just to have fun right now.”
The Redhawks’ Elder won a close race with Methuen’s Lauren Quarm in the 200m dash, edging her rival by just four hundredths of a second with a time of 25.91. Earlier in the meet, Quarm blazed a new meet record in the 55m with a winning time of 7.15 seconds.
The defending state champion currently leads the state with her season best of 7.08 from the Boston Holiday Challenge on Dec. 28.
“I was expecting to run a lot faster than I did today but I’m glad that I was able to keep my times consistently and run a good time and get the win,” she said.
In the boys’ 200m, Newton North’s Reese Connors was able to come out on top in a race that had seven sprinters break 23 seconds. Connor blasted across the line in a PR of 22.28. Pembroke’s Jayden Leonard (22.54) and Milton’s Luka Juric (22.60) took the next two spots.
The two mile produced polar opposite races in the boys’ and girls’ races. For the boys, Natick’s John Bianchi broke from his rivals early and cruised to a PR and meet record of 9:21.05. Marblehead’s Nathaniel Assa was second at 9:24.99. Westford Academy’s Emily Wedlake also broke the meet record to take the girls’ title with a near best and state No. 2 of 10:49.55, just .43 ahead of New Hampshire’s Mackenzie Cook of Oyster River.
Newton South’s Emily Frawley and Framingham’s Sasha Lamakina engaged in a close battle in the girls’ 800m. Trailing her rival by just strides throughout the race, Frawley sprinted past Lamakina with just 10m remaining to take the crown.
“I’m pretty happy with it,” Frawley said. “I was just going out there, stay behind Sasha and see what I could do at the end. I didn’t have that may expectations. It’s still kind of early. This is one of our first, more competitive races. The seedings were great. There were so many talented girls.”
Among those girls was another top seed, Wellesley’s Kayla Bohlin. The Raider senior experienced an unfortunate incident late in the race. In third behind Frawley just before the first turn on the backstretch, Bohlin was knocked out of the race when a sprinter in the 55m dash tumbled into her on the track after his momentum carried him over the mat at the finish.
