Northampton girls dominate to take third straight sectional track championship
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WESTFIELD - The members of the Northampton girls track and field team say that East Longmeadow is not a rival, even though the Spartans have challenged and even beaten the Blue Devils over the past year.
But on Saturday, Northampton regained its status as the top team in the area with a dominating victory at the Western Massachusetts Track and Field Championship at Westfield State University.
The Blue Devils were runner-up to East Longmeadow at the indoor championships in March, then finished third as the Spartans won the Division 1 title May 21.
"We were better-suited for this meet, and the energy level was much higher today," said Northampton senior Viviane Ford. "Last week mattered, but this week mattered more. We came together in practice, realized what we wanted and how we needed to accomplish it."
The Blue Devils rolled to their third consecutive team title, totaling 67.5 points, easily outdistancing second-place East Longmeadow (55.5) and third-place Central (46).
"It's a different team for us and for East Longmeadow, compared to the indoor season," Northampton coach Nate Kraft said. "But it's definitely nice to get a title at the end of the season. We lost at D-1 last week, and we moved some people around. But losing by the amount we did was a wake-up call for the girls.
"The girls were ready today, and it showed," Kraft added. "East Longmeadow's been right there with us for three years now, and we know they'll always be in the mix. They have a great program, and facing them is a lot of fun."
Kraft said it's better to have parity within the sport, and that it helped his team.
"We weren't technically the favorites, and that changes how you approach things," he said. "That gives you a certain amount of focus, when there are five different teams that can win. We have the history, but we have to perform on that day."
The only other local squad to place in the top 10 was Frontier Regional, which came in seventh with 34 points.
Going into the final relay, the Blue Devils had the title well in hand. But sophomore Mia Toffoli stamped an exclamation point on the victory by catching and passing Mount Greylock on the final leg of the 4x400.
"I knew we were capable of getting first, and I just went for it there," Toffoli said. "It felt amazing to be able to bring it home there. We knew we could do it, and we put all we had into it."
"Our 4x400 didn't run great, but Mia did a great job making up the time," said Kraft. "We're going to have to do much better at states if we want to get to New Englands. It was a nice finish to the meet, and Mia had a nice day."
Ford finished fourth in the mile with a time of 5:23.68, and ran the anchor leg of the fourth-place 4x800 relay team.
"Nobody can imagine how we feel, because we knew we could do it, but I think there was some doubt after last week," Ford said. "This is the one goal we wanted to accomplish, and I'm so happy for everything."
The sophomore duo of Toffoli and Adrienne Pascucci accounted for 28 of the team's points in individual events.
Toffoli set a new school record in the 400 with a time of 57.34 seconds. She passed Natalia Paine, who ran it in 57.41 in both 2008 and 2009.
"I just wanted to PR, and I happened to get the school record, which was great," Toffoli said. "I wanted to get off to a better start, because usually I don't realize I'm racing until about 200 meters into it. So I tried something different, and it worked."
Pascucci won the high jump after being seeded third. She jumped 5 feet. Teammate Leah Tompkins tied for third in the event at 4-10.
"The high jumpers all were seeded pretty well, but I guess none of us did that well today because nobody got their personal record," Pascucci said. "So you have to take your attempts as they come, but for me it went pretty well.
The Blue Devils, whose strength is the running events, took 17 points in the field events Saturday. Senior Phoebe Hopkins placed seventh in the triple jump at 34-2.75.
"We took some points in places we weren't expecting," Kraft said. "Phoebe and Nora came in with points we didn't see coming. Adrienne and Leah did a great job in the high jump. We scored in the pole vault and the triple. The field events we compete in, we do well in."
Pascucci also took second in the 400 hurdles in 1:05.62.
Northampton established an early lead and maintained a double-digit points advantage throughout the meet.
"We wanted to get as many early points as we could, which is a little comforting as the meet goes on," said Pascucci. "I know that the field points I do get matter for the team, so I do everything I can to help the team in that way."
Two Northampton seniors scored points in the 2-mile event, as Charlotte Lellman (11:47.91) finished fourth and Nora Letendre (11:56.71) placed fifth. Emma Larson was seventh (2:28.88) in the 800.
"We have a really strong group of seniors, and without them it will be a struggle," said Toffoli. "But if the rest of us step up, we can keep up the tradition."
Pascucci added, "It's really nice for the seniors to have three wins under their belt, and to see them head off to college with another Hamp victory feels really good for the rest of us."
The entire team is off to the state meet next weekend with a chance to advance to the New England championships. Ford and the rest of the seniors will savor every moment left with the team.
"It's been a great time and a great season, and I'll be sad when I have to leave in a couple weeks," said Ford.
