For the next few months, it’s all about the outdoor track & field season as our MA athletes look to achieve PRs, individual and/or team titles this spring on the state level and, for some, even the national level. Who are some of the top individuals we should keep an eye on this spring? Here we preview what we consider some of the best in the girls’ sprinting (and long sprinting) events.
***
100m
Last year, four sprinters broke 12 seconds in this event. Two are coming back with Sharon’s Nina Kyei-Aboagye and Methuen’s Lauren Quarm coming back. The talented duo were our 1-2 finishers in the 55-meter dash at the Meet of Champions this past winter and our 2-3 finishers in this event at last spring’s MOC. Aboagye blazed to a PR of 11.89 seconds in the championship race, while Quarm finished at 11.92. We predict both will be at it again this season and list them as our co-favorites to win it all come early June. Keyi-Aboagye make get a slight edge for the sole reason that she’s come out on top in their last two head-to-head battles at the MOC. But it really is anyone’s guess between these two warriors. Our remaining five runners that qualified for the finals at the MOC are also returning his season with Mansfield’s Chloe Guthrie (fourth), Oliver Ames Grace Okocha (fifth) and Lavender Kozaka (sixth), Chicopee’s Sophia Guzman (seventh) and Annie Comella (DNS). You can’t count out Dennis Yarmouth’s Breanna Braham, who was third in the 55m dash during the indoor season and our 300m titlist. She could make an impact, too, in an event she only ran sparingly last spring.
200m
Kyei-Aboagye gets the favorite nod here. She’s the defending champion in an event she was unbeaten against her MA rivals. She clocked a winning time and PR of 23.97 at the MOC to become the only sprinter to crack 24 seconds for the half-lapper. Could this be an event we see Braham run more of this season? She only ran it a few times last spring. But she’s coming off an indoor campaign where she not only struck gold in the 300m, but clocked a state-leading and PR of 24.23 for the 200m at the Nike Indoor Nationals last month. There’s also Okocha, Amherst Pelham’s Moriah Luetjen and Uxbridge’s Kendall Gilmore, who went 4-5-8 at the MOC. You can’t ignore the Red Raiders’ Comella (24.88) and Guthrie (24.99), who along with Okocha (24.69), are the only other runners besides Kyei-Aboagye to dip under 25 seconds for the 200m.
400m
Could we have a rematch of last year’s MOC? It sure seems that way. Returning this season are our 1-2 finishers from last year’s MOC – North Reading’s Giuliana Ligor and Amherst-Pelham’s Moriah Luetjen. Ligor edged Luetjen for the title in 2024 with a PR of 55.62, just .12 ahead of her rival. The A-P senior did finish the season with the fastest in the state with her winning 55.51 at the Div. 4 Championships, a race she outlasted another sub-56 returnee, Apponequet’s Morgan Hayward (55.82). Keep Braham on your radar as well. During the indoor season, she ran a best of 55.97 at Nike. This race certainly has the makings for a thriller-to-the-tape like last year.
