With our athletes now leaving the dirt trails of cross country behind, it’s time to shift our focus to a different kind of competition—one where running, throwing, and jumping take center stage. The indoor track & field season has arrived.
As always, we have several talented returnees set to make an impact, a group of notable newcomers ready to challenge the field, and—without question—a few surprises waiting in the wings. Over the next few weeks, Bay State Running will preview the upcoming winter campaign. We’ll take our best shot at predicting the top performers in each event.
Here we feature the girls’ throwing events, which includes the long jump and high jump.
LONG JUMP
It was an incredible year for the long jump, particularly during the outdoor season, where five athletes leaped more than 19 feet. Two of them return this indoor season: Lexington’s Aubrey Deardorf and Natick’s Emmanuella Edozien.
As a junior last year, Edozien captured the indoor title with a jump of 18-8.75. She followed that up with a runner-up finish at the New England Championships with an indoor best of 19-4. The multi-talented senior, who holds the state record in the 55-meter hurdles and is also one of the top returning sprinters, had an all-time best of 19-5.75 from the Bay State Conference Championships in May.
Deardorf, the outdoor champion, was amazingly consistent in her specialty, jumping 19 feet or more seven times last spring, highlighted by a 19-9 effort at the New Balance Nationals where she earned All-American honors by placing fifth overall.
Look for athletes like Lowell’s Esther Ofodile and Oliver Ames’ Lavender Kozaka to figure in the mix, too. Kozaka was second at last year’s states with an indoor best of 18-4.25. She went 18-9.25 to claim the Div. 3 crown during the spring. As a freshman, Ofodile showed dramatic improvement from the indoor season to outdoor with a best of more than a foot, hitting a PR of 18-10.75 at the New Balance Nationals.
HIGH JUMP
We have an interesting stat in this event—the top five finishers from last year’s State Meet have all graduated. That said, nearly all of the top performers from the outdoor season are back, with one notable exception – Norton’s Zoe Santos, who was the indoor and outdoor state champion.
So what does this mean? In our view, it means this event is wide open. With most of the returnees landing in the 5-4 to 5-6 range, it’s anyone’s guess who will rise to the top at the Meet of Champions.
Last year, two of those returnees cleared 5-6, with Milton’s Ella Turner making the height at the Bay State Conference Championships in late January and Nauset Regional’s Violet Roche reaching that mark to earn runner-up honors at the Meet of Champions in June.
There’s also S’sraarr Parham of Attleboro. The Bombardiers senior was fourth at the indoor states and fifth at the outdoor meet, clearing 5-4 on both occasions. Parham also owns a best of 5-5, achieved at the New England Championships in both seasons, where she earned a pair of third-place finishes. By her performances in these meets, she’s proven she’s up to the challenge during championship time.
