SCH, GA girls in rare dual meet draw

Posted 4/29/13

In the anchor leg of the 4 x 100 meter relay, SCH sophomore Bridget Lipp speeds down the home straight ahead of GA senior Kiernan McCloskey. (Photo by Tom Utescher) by Tom Utescher If only they’d …

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SCH, GA girls in rare dual meet draw

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In the anchor leg of the 4 x 100 meter relay, SCH sophomore Bridget Lipp speeds down the home straight ahead of GA senior Kiernan McCloskey. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

If only they’d known how close last Monday’s Girls’ Inter-Ac track and field dual meet was going to be, host Germantown Academy and visiting Springside Chestnut Hill each might have done things a little differently.

The unorthodox outcome, a 61-61 tie, stemmed partly from a lack of participants in several events. Tesa Pribitkin, a freshman for the GA Patriots, garnered five points for her team by winning the pole vault, but she was the lone contestant, and the four team points for second and third place were never awarded.

In the long jump, the only competitors were victorious GA junior Megan McCloskey and runner-up Julia Reeves, a ninth-grader for SCH. Nobody picked up the one point that could’ve been won by a third jumper making just a token attempt.

However, in the final weeks of the regular season, dual meet wins are not as much of a priority for track coaches and athletes as preparation for the league championships and other major postseason gatherings. GA, which already had beaten Inter-Ac rivals Agnes Irwin, Baldwin School, Episcopal Academy, and Notre Dame, improved to 4-0-1 in the league, with this week’s dual meet with Penn Charter remaining on the schedule.

The SCH Blue Devils came away with a 3-1-1 league record that included wins over Charter, Irwin, and Notre Dame, and a loss to Episcopal.

Ultimately, the Devils’ advantage in the running events (where they outscored GA 49-33) was counterbalanced by the Patriots’ strength in the field disciplines (advantage GA: 28-12).

Springside Chestnut Hill’s freshman speedster, Brooklynn Broadwater, gave the visitors first-place finishes in both hurdling races and in the open 400 meters, as well as anchoring the winning 4 x 400 relay quartet. Sophomore teammate Bridget Lipp led off in the 4 x 4, and also ran the last leg of the Blue Devils’ victorious 4 x 100 relay. Individually, she won the 100 meter dash and was second in the 200.

SCH ninth-grader Julia Reeves placed first in the 200 and the triple jump as well as contributing second-place points in two other events, the 100 meters and the long jump. Senior Maddi Hinchey was runner-up in the 1600 meters, and came in third in both the 800 and the high jump. At the other end of the age scale, Blue Devils seventh-grader E.K. Helstrom finished third in the 1600.

McCloskey, GA’s ace jumper, not only won the long jump, but also breezed to victory in her specialty, the high jump. On the track she took third in the open 100 meters, and participated in the 4 x 1 relay.

McCloskey’s closest competition in the high jump came from her own sister, Kiernan, a senior who also came in second in the triple jump. The elder sibling was third in the 200, and participated in the 4 x 1.

Another Patriots 12th grader, Fran Sweeney, a basketball teammate of Kiernan McCloskey’s during the winter, ran in the two relay races for the meet hosts. Sweeney was runner up in both the 100 and 300 hurdles, as well. Yet another Germantown hoopster, junior Margaret Anne Hubbell, emerged victorious from the shot put circle.

On the track, senior Maddie Stambaugh won the 1600 meters and gave GA second-place in the 800 behind junior teammate Kerry Lawlor. In an unusual co-ed 3200 meter race, promising Patriot freshmen Paige Kupsky kept up with the fastest boys for some time, and easily became the first female finisher.

In close meets, a team needs not just the eye-catching performers who win their events, but also those who are steady contributors to the point total. One such performer for GA was sophomore Claudia Mezey, who placed third in the triple jump and the shot put, as well as both hurdling events.

In the middle of the meet, SCH won the 4 x 100 meter relay, with the foursome of freshmen Essence Walden and Singley Risico and sophomores Kyra Jackson and Lipp turning in a time of 52.62 seconds against GA (53.89), which led off with freshman Maggie Hallahan and followed up with Megan McCloskey, Sweeney, and Kiernan McCloskey.

The other relay, the 4 x 400, was the final event of the meet. Going in, the SCH Blue Devils trailed 61-56 in the team scoring and thus had to win the concluding race to avoid a loss overall. The Patriot quartet consisted of Kerry Lawlor, Hallahan, Bridie Lawlor (Kerry’s senior sister), and Sweeney.

On the first leg, SCH’s Lipp completed her lap with a lead of roughly 15 meters, and another five meters was tacked on by senior Drew Davis during the second circuit. Walden maintained the same spacing in the third leg, then the anchor, Broadwater, wrapped up the win, as the Devils put up a total time of 4:17.20 to Germantown’s 4:23.40.

Meet Results

100 Meters

1. SCH Bridget Lipp 13.06

2. SCH Julia Reeves 13.22

3. GA Megan McCloskey 13.36

200 Meters

1. SCH Julia Reeves 27.45

2. SCH Bridget Lipp 27.48

3. GA Kiernan McCloskey 28.36

400 Meters

1. SCH Brooklynn Broadwater 1:04.42

2. GA Maggie Hallahan 1:08.46

3. GA Christine Weeks 1:13.31

800 Meters

1. GA Kerry Lawlor 2:23.47

2. GA Maddie Stambaugh 2:30.73

3. SCH Maddi Hinchey 2:36.50

1600 Meters

1. GA Maddie Stambaugh 5:24.47

2. SCH Maddi Hinchey 5:43.41

3. SCH E.K. Helstrom 5:46.98

3200 Meters

1. GA Paige Kupsky 11:37.34

2. SCH Nicole Novo 12:14.13

3. GA Emily Cannon 13:12.96

100 High Hurdles

1. SCH Brooklynn Broadwater 16.77

2. GA Fran Sweeney 17:49

3. GA Claudia Mezey 18.70

300 Intermediate Hurdles

1. SCH Brooklynn Broadwater 50.12

2. GA Fran Sweeney 53.38

3. GA Claudia Mezey 55.56

High Jump

1. GA Megan McCloskey 5’6”

2. GA Kiernan McCloskey 5’2”

3. SCH Maddi Hinchey 4’10”

Long Jump

1. GA Megan McCloskey 16’1”

2. SCH Julia Reeves 15’6.25”

Pole Vault

1. Tesa Pribitkin 7’6”

Shot Put

1. GA Margaret Anne Hubbell 28’1.5”

2. SCH Kyra Jackson 24’3”

3. GA Claudia Mezey 23’6”

Triple Jump

1. SCH Julia Reeves 34’3.75”

2. GA Kiernan McCloskey 32’3.5”

3. GA Claudia Mezey 28’6.5”

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