South Hadley track star Emma Sanford is known prolific hurdling skills and her prowess at the high and long jump events. Her versatility is what makes her so strong at the multi-events, the pentathlon and heptathlon becoming her bread and butter. 

That all changed this year. An impressive and unexpected performance at the New Balance Indoor Nationals gave Sanford an edge in a new event that nobody saw coming – the shot put. 

“It started out in indoor as a major weakness. So we worked on it a lot indoor and at nationals she had this really breakthrough throw,” South Hadley girls track head coach Kathleen Labrie said. “She threw it, and it looked really good. So we're waiting and waiting and it seemed like it took forever for the distance to pop up on the board for how long it was. When that distance popped up, her jaw dropped. She looked over at the coaches and we were all doing the same thing.” 

A throw of 34 feet, 2 inches put Sanford on the map in the event – that distance was a new PR by more than a foot and a half. She carried that momentum into outdoor season, winning an individual state title in the shot at the MIAA Division 6 Championships (34-11½). Improving her shot put skills also helped her in the pentathlon and heptathlon. 

Her breakthrough performance in the shot put and her all-around fourth-place performance at New Balance Outdoor Nationals earned her All-American honors. That made Sanford an easy choice for the Daily Hampshire Gazette Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year. It’s the fourth time that she’s won the award, earning the honor for both outdoor and indoor seasons her junior and senior years. 

In addition to her state title in the shot and her All-American honors at outdoor nationals, Sanford also won all three events she competed in at the Western Mass. Division 2 championships — the long jump (17-0), 400-meter hurdles (1:07.81) and 100 hurdles (15.23) — then placed first in the pentathlon (3,130 points) and second in the 100 hurdles (14.97) at the state meet as well as second place in the pentathlon (3,141) at the MIAA Meet of Champions.

It’s easy to get caught up in the accolades and awards, especially when Sanford is so used to winning – she’ll leave South Hadley as a school-record holder in four events, the 100 hurdles (14.97), long jump (18-2½), heptathlon (3,951) and pentathlon (3,130). But this year, the senior wanted to focus less on the limelight and more on just having a good time competing. That’s part of the reason she chose to compete in the shot put at all during the state meet – she was wavering between long jump and shot put as her final individual event.

“I don't really stress out about (shot put) because, not that it’s not as intense as the other ones, but I just feel a little bit less of the pressure,” Sanford said. “I think partially because other people don't know how well I'm gonna do and also I think there's a lot of room to grow still. I think every time I throw it's another chance to PR, whereas for some of the other events, I kind of have an expectation of what I'm going to do.” 

As much as Sanford focused on having fun rather than results, she did have her eye on one particular prize – All-American status. She came close at indoor nationals this year, but a less than ideal 800-meter run at the end of the pentathlon dropped her to 10th place – she needed to be sixth or better to be an All-American. 

She knew she had it in her to accomplish the feat outdoors, but there were a couple of obstacles she’d have to surpass. First, she’d been having trouble putting together a complete event, thriving in a few disciplines and struggling in others all season. Second, she didn’t think that she’d have a coach who would be able to drive down to nationals with her. Labrie, a mother of two young children under the age of five, didn’t want to stay the night, but last minute was able to figure out the logistics so she could drive there and back in one day. She left at 3:30 a.m. to get to Philadelphia and stay at Sanford’s side every step of the way. 

“There was a lot of support, and I wasn't as nervous or worried or anything. I just had a really fun meet. It was probably the funnest meet I've had all year. And I think that's mostly because (Labrie) was there,” Sanford said. “I get in my head a lot. So when I stop worrying about how I'm going to do, I tend to do better all around. So that was a big thing for me was just trying to enjoy what was happening in the moment and where I was.” 

The support from Labrie and staying present in the moment worked. Sanford didn’t hit any personal bests, but she finally put together a complete meet, performing well in every event. Before the pentathletes lined up for the 800, the last event of the day, it finally seemed to hit her – she could do this. 

“I’m like tearing up thinking about it,” Labrie said on Sanford’s All-American performance. “Going into the 800, she was sitting in third place. And she kind of looked at me and she said ‘Can this happen?’ and I was like ‘Yeah this can happen!’”

The All-American honor was a fairy-tale ending for Sanford, exactly the kind of finish you hope for to end a high school career. The decorated Sanford will continue her track career at Lehigh University in the fall, where she’s ready to move on to even bigger and better things. While she’s on to do bigger and better things in college, South Hadley – and most of Western Mass. – will always remember the incredible feats she was able to accomplish with the Tigers. 

FIRST TEAM ALL-STARS

Molly Bail, senior, Belchertown 

Kathleen Barry, freshman, Hampshire 

Camilla Brewer, sophomore, Northampton 

Caroline Crocker, senior, Frontier 

Kira French, senior, Northampton 

Abby Gelinas, sophomore, South Hadley

Leah Greene, senior, Northampton

Sophia Leone, senior, Frontier 

Maeve O’Neil, sophomore, Northampton 

Nicole Plasse, junior, Frontier 

Norah Reade, senior, Northampton 

Courtnegail Rose, senior, Amherst 

Emma Sanford, senior, South Hadley 

Elizabeth Sawicki, sophomore, Amherst 

Ayla Starr, senior, Frontier 

Allie Sullivan, freshman, Northampton 

SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS

Addison Barr, sophomore, Easthampton

Tamar Byl-Brann, senior, Amherst 

Sicily Chase, freshman, Hampshire 

Hannah Davis, sophomore, Frontier

Sylvie DiBartolomeo, sophomore, Frontier 

Allison Fleury, freshman, South Hadley 

Tess Geis-Benton, sophomore, Northampton 

Odessa Gianesin, sophomore, Northampton 

Ella Hoogendyk, freshman, Northampton 

Abigail Howard, senior, Frontier 

Emma Levreault, sophomore, South Hadley 

Gwen Marion, freshman, South Hadley 

Madi Mendoza, junior, South Hadley 

Addie Morrey, freshman, Hampshire 

Lilly Novak, sophomore, Frontier 

Lexie Scott, senior, South Hadley 

Natalie Shaw, senior, Belchertown 

Maddie Soderbaum, sophomore, South Hadley 

Cameron Ting, junior, Belchertown 

Anna Zamer, senior, Northampton 

HONORABLE MENTION 

Ruby Austin, sophomore, Amherst

Keegan Butler, freshman, Hampshire 

Yelena Caldanaro, junior, Northampton

Brooklyn Court, junior, Amherst

Jade DeNucce-Simms, senior, Easthampton 

Natalie Dunlap, eighth grade, Hampshire

Monica Fisher-Piccininno, senior, Northampton 

Amelia Hanke, freshman, Hampshire 

Lila Hensley, senior, Northampton 

Rylee Joseph, freshman, Hampshire 

Claire McFarland, sophomore, Frontier

Jaylene Moquin, junior, Holyoke 

Audrey Perrone, junior, Hampshire

Amelia Perry, freshman, Hampshire 

Sofie Quinn, freshman, South Hadley

Izzy Scott, sophomore, South Hadley

Evelyn Smith, sophomore, Northampton 

Lexi Stratton, senior, South Hadley 

Yasani Thompson, freshman, Holyoke 

Kami Wlodyka, junior, Belchertown 

Samone Young, freshman, Easthampton 

Lily Zamer, senior, Northampton 

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