Top Girls Events to Watch
Mile
At this point Abby Hennessy’s resume speaks for itself. She owns both Mile and Two-Mile State records, and one of those will most likely get lowered again this season, if not both. (Possibly Thursday Night as she is entered in the HOKA Festival of Miles amongst an outstanding field) Regardless of how Abby decides to race on Saturday, the battle that may take place behind her could represent a changing of the guard. Junior Lauren Raffetto of Canton has the #2 time in the state this season, 4:50.34. She may try and latch onto Hennessy to help distance herself from the field. That won’t be easy. Fellow Junior, Maria Chopas of Concord Carlisle isn’t far behind with a 4:52.34 best. However, it’s the underclassmen that may steal the show. Sophomore Kylie Donahue won Division 2 in an impressive 4:51.33 over Chopas. Lexington Sophomore Amelia Whorton won Division 1 in 4:52.66 and has run under 2:10 for 800m twice. And then there’s freshmen Lucy Downin of Holliston who turned heads all indoors and holds a best of 4:52.73. Hennessy will leave an incredible legacy when she graduates, but there will also be an opportunity for someone else to step up. This race may offer a preview.
100m Hurdles
Here’s another possible changing of the guard, albeit one we didn’t expect this season. Emmanuella Edozien holds both 55m Hurdle and 110m Hurdle Records. Her current outdoor best stands at 13.57 from last year’s meet. Like another athlete we’ll mention next, she may be saving her best for last. Indoors she set the overall state record in the final of the 55m Hurdles at the Meet of Champions. That said, she enters the Meet tied for the state lead with Milton’s Annaliese Aguilar at 14.06. Aguilar’s mark was wind aided from last week’s Division 3 Championship. Still, this race is a must watch. Even if it’s just to see Edozien run her final race in Massachusetts. Aguilar is only a Junior so a battle with the state’s best hurdler will set her up well for the future.
200m
After being denied potentially one of the best races at the Indoor Meet of Champions when Malden Freshmen Khadijah Diagne was disqualified, the 200m here offers a solid replacement. The star freshmen is facing off against one of the best Massachusetts sprinters of all time. Sharon’s Nina Kyei-Aboagye holds the state record at 23.28 from this meet last year. Her best this season came last week at the Division 3 Championships, running 23.97, so she’s peaking at the right time. Diagne enters with a best of 24.41 from Indoors, and will look to close the gap on the senior. However, if Kyei-Aboagye approaches her best, it may be a repeat of last year. Senior Ava Lombardo of Framingham and Freshmen Terry Kwarteng of Wachusett have also broken 25 seconds this season and could be in line for a big day after going 1-2 at the Division 1 Championships.
Long Jump
Five girls are entered with jumps of 19 feet or better. For reference, #3 seed Aubrey Deardorf of Lexington finished fifth at New Balance Nationals last year with a jump of 19’9”. She’s jumped 19’8” this season and will be looking to crack the 20-foot barrier this week. So will Westford Academy’s Kaitlyn Boakye-Yiadom, who has jumped a state #2 of 19’10.5”. They’ll be looking to join Olive Ames Lavender Kozaka, who eclipsed the 20-foot barrier with her win at the MSTCA Warrior Invitational. Kozaka has a best of 20’0.75”. The long jump is all about execution and anything can happen! Foxborough’s Lauren Bober and Wayland’s Sazie Wrentmore have jumped over 19 feet as well.
Javelin
Javelin will be one of the most hotly contested events of the two-day meet. Max Cassinelli of Taunton enters with the state best of 125’8”. She is undefeated this season with notable victories coming at the Division 1 Championships, MSTCA Coaches Metro Invitational, and Weston Twilight. However, there are three more girls seeded at 122 or better. Mara Siewko of Masconomet has a best of 123’6” and recently won Division 3 and the NEC Championships, with back-to-back throws over 120. Nora Lopez of Mt. Greylock and Natalie Rios of South Hadley have both thrown over 122 feet this season and recently went 1-2 at the Division 6 Championships.
2 Mile
Defending champ Greta Hammer will have her work cut out for her Thursday. Hammer won the Two Mile at the Indoor and Outdoor Meet of Champions in 2025. After taking the winter off, she’s back and setting personals bests over the Mile and 800m. She’s undefeated in the Two Mile, winning the Division 1 Championships as well as Weston Twilight. Her biggest challenge may come from Division 5 Champion Emily Flagg. We’ve rarely seen Flagg challenged at this distance, as she went undefeated indoors in route to winning the Meet of Champions. Her best is 10:30.90 from last week’s race. How much faster can she go? The wild card may be Maria Chopas of Concord Carlisle. Most of the Division 2 race was forgotten behind Abby Hennessy’s record setting performance, but Chopas stormed to second place in a PB of 10:29.25. She also has the fastest Mile and 800m in the field, boasting bests of 2:16 and 4:52.
400m Hurdles
Weston’s Solana Varela has continued to put a gap on her competition all season, and now she’ll look to challenge the clock. Last week, Varela clocked 1:00.22 at the Division 5 Championships. Could this be the meet she goes under 60 seconds? Her mark currently sits at #20 nationally, and a time under 60 would catapult her into the top 15. Abigail Clark of Cardinal Spellman and Sazie Wrentmore of Wayland both come in having run 1:02 and will look to close in on 60 seconds themselves. Make sure you can see the clock for this one.
4x100m
The girls from Newton North enter as the favorite with a best of 42.29. They’re 0.09 seconds off the automatic qualifying mark for New Balance Nationals. They comfortably won Division 1 last week but will have to watch out for both Pembroke and Fitchburg coming out of Division 4. Last week the Titans edged the Raiders by 0.06 to take the crown. Both teams are peaking at the right time and could give Newton North a run. Anything can happen in the 4x100m.
