by Tom Utescher

The weather was still cool early last week, but the track was dry at Mount St. Joseph Academy on Tuesday when the Magic hosted league rivals Villa Joseph Marie and Nazareth Academy for a tri-meet.

At the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies championships last spring, Mount St. Joe won the league title over Villa Joe by just one-third of a point. In last week’s regular-season encounter, the Magic were outscored by the two visiting squads, falling to the Villa Jems, 77-55, and getting edged out by the Nazareth Pandas, 68-64. Head-to-head, Villa Joe also bested Nazareth, 80-51.

The Mount graduated a strong senior class last season, but a good crop of young athletes should continue to improve in the weeks before the AACA meet in the second week of May. In addition, the championship format allows more placewinners to score, which often favors a team with a large roster like Mount St. Joe.

In last Tuesday’s meet at the Mount freshman Annie Lemelin shone in the sprints, winning both the 100 meters (13.7 seconds) and the 200 (28.2). She also led off for the Magic’s second-place 4 x 400 relay quartet, running ahead of sophomore Kylie McGovern and juniors Megan Ciasullo and Ryan Good.

The Mount didn’t fare as well in the 4 x 100 (won by Nazareth), but its 4 x 800 foursome secured second place with freshmen Emily Carr and Emily Baer, sophomore Maeve Gallagher and junior Clara Marty.

Ciasullo and Good placed second and third in the open 800, while McGovern was third at 400 meters. In the longer footraces, Villa Joe swept the top three spots in the 1600 and took second and third in the 3200 behind victorious Nazareth.

In the 100 hurdles MSJ senior Kennedy McClelland was the runner-up, and her classmate Molly Higgins placed third in the 300 hurdles.

In the field events, the Mount excelled in the high jump. Clearing a 4’10” bar, freshman Margaux Rawson led a one-two-three showing for the Magic, who got 4’8” jumps from senior Annie Princivalle (second) and sophomore Kelly Rothenberg (third).

Rothenberg also got third in the long jump, and third place in the triple jump went to senior Megan Dodaro. The Magic graduated some strong throwers from their 2017 team, and last week the top spots in the shot put went to the two visiting schools.

In the javelin, however, two freshmen stepped up, with Maggie McBride coming in second and Riley Mulligan placing third. There was no pole vault competition, and the discus was also scratched because the customary venue for that event is now enveloped in the construction that has gotten underway for the Mount’s new artificial turf field.