It’s Preview Time!
With the outdoor track & field season licking off, it’s time to spotlight the top athletes who could dominate this spring. We’ve based our projections on performances from the 2025 outdoor season, results from this past winter campaign, and some inside knowldege.
Here we feature the throwing events, which include the shot, javelin and discus.
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SHOT
Just like in past years, this event should be highly competitive, with a select few battling for the individual title at the Meet of Champions this spring. From the indoor season, three athletes return after surpassing 40 feet during the winter months—Lexington’s Ainsley Cuthbertson (42-8.75), Isabel Zukowski (42-3.5), and Melrose’s Emeline Boyer (40-5.5), the MOC winner.
Boyer, who recorded her first 40-foot throw to capture the Division 3 title on Feb. 12, is the top returnee from last year’s Meet of Champions. She placed second overall with an outdoor best of 38-9.25. Based on her performances in her last two championship meets, expect the Melrose senior to be in the mix again this season.
Cuthbertson has been the most consistent of the trio. During the indoor season, she surpassed 40 feet in seven meets and exceeded 39 feet on four other occasions. The Minutemen senior, the indoor weight throw champion and two-time All American in her specialty, can never be counted out. She was the Div. 1 champion in the shot last year and did not compete in the event at the MOC in 2025. She’ll certainly be focused on finishing off her high school career with a state title.
Zukowski had a strong finish to her season. After grabbing the silver at the MOC, she placed fourth at the New England Championships and nearly earned All American at the New Balance Nationals where she was seventh overall with her current best.
JAVELIN
From last year’s Meet of Champions, four podium finishers return—Nora Lopez of Mount Greylock, Jessica Leehan of Woburn, Natalie Rios of Pioneer Valley, and Aisling Donegan of Melrose, who placed third, fourth, seventh, and eighth, respectively.
Lopez is the top returnee not only based on her finish at the season-ending meet, but also her overall performance. She concluded the spring ranked No. 5 in the state with a best of 125-3 from her win at the Western Mass Small School Championships, where she defeated Rios by 10 feet (125-3 to 115-2). The Pioneer Valley sophomore also captured the Division 6 title with a personal best of 120-10.
Leehan and Donegan both had their top performances at the Meet of Champions, throwing 119-6 and 114-6, respectively.
DISCUS
Like our first two events in this preview, this should be a competitive one. The top three athletes in the state rankings have since graduated, but the next four are all returning, each with marks between 120 and 130 feet. That quartet includes Cuthbertson (130-8), Boyer (126-9), Taunton’s Sophia Olaniyan (125-4), and Lexington’s Evelyn Radcliffe (120-6).
Cuthbertson recorded her best with a win at the Division 1 Championships and did not compete at the Meet of Champions. With her prowess in other throwing events, particularly the shot and hammer, the Lexington standout is our slight favorite to defend her Division 1 crown and continue her momentum at the MOC.
But the others can’t be counted out either.
Olaniyan came just over a foot shy of earning the individual title at the MOC last spring with her personal-best effort, just behind the winning toss of 126-0 by Dracut’s Zoe Clarke. Boyer was fifth at the MOC and, nine days later, matched that placement with her all-time best at the New England Championships. As a freshman in 2025, Radcliffe won the ML-12 title and placed second at the Division 1 meet with her current best. After fouling out at the MOC, she showed resilience by finishing seventh in the Freshmen competition at New Balance, recording a solid 118-4 effort.
