Coming straight off of a victory in the 3200-meter run, Germantown Academy 4 x 400 anchor Abbe Goldstein (left) moves out after a baton exchange with Patriots teammate Rachel Villari. Goldstein also won the 1600 earlier in the day. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

One major development at last Saturday’s girls Inter-Ac League track and field championships did not involve the finish of a race, but, rather, a race that was not finished.

After winning the 100 meter hurdles in 15.06 seconds, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy junior Brooklynn Broadwater pulled up lame and fell to the track just 25 yards into the 100-meter dash final. Two-time winner of the league’s Judy Krouse award for the leading individual point scorer at the meet, Broadwater suffered a hamstring injury that is likely not very serious, but it sidelined her for the duration of the 2015 gathering at Malvern Prep.

Already hamstrung by injuries to other key performers, the Blue Devils would finish fourth at the meet, with 51 points. Scoring in every one of the 15 events, Episcopal Academy amassed 154.75 points to capture its third straight Inter-Ac title. The Academy of Notre Dame, which had a few down years after winning in 2011 and 2012, climbed back up to take second place with 89.5 points, while 2014 runner-up Germantown Academy was third this time around, with 66.

SCH, which had finished second to EA by one point in 2013 and finished third last year, was followed in the final 2015 standings by Baldwin School (40 points), Agnes Irwin (34) and Penn Charter (29.75). The fractions in some of the point totals were partly due to a four-way tie for fourth place in the pole vault, where GA junior Tesa Pribitkin won at 9’6”, and SCH sophomore Libby Jefferson placed second at 7’3”.

Jefferson also gave the Blue Devils third-place points in the high jump (4’10”) and she was sixth in the triple jump (31’6.5”). Junior Essence Walden was runner-up in the long jump (15’8”), and from the senior class, SCH received third place in the 1600 meters (5:17.70) and fourth in the 800 (2:27.75) from Jamie Costarino, and fifth in the 200 meter dash from Bridget Lipp (26.75).

GA distance ace Abbe Goldstein, still only a sophomore, won the league cross country title last fall, and on the track she triumphed in both the 1600 meters (5:04.73), which she won by four seconds over EA’s Alexis Malmberg, and the 3200 (11:33.13), where she earned a 22-second margin.

Her classmate Jamie Hermance placed second in the high jump (5’0”) and fourth in the 300 hurdles (49.96), and freshman Rachel Villari took third in the 800 meters (2:24.77).

Patriots junior Maggie Hallahan came in fourth in the 1600 (5:19.36) and fifth in the 3200 (12:47.08). In the 400, GA freshman Kelsey O’Hara was fifth (1:00.07), and the Pats picked up the sixth-place points in two events, thanks to junior Shayne Cerebe in the 800 (2:29.35) and sophomore Katie Weiss in the shot put (25’10”).

Penn Charter acquired two thirds of its points at the meet from two athletes. In the triple jump, sophomore Felicia Robinson was the winner (35’3.5”) and senior Carolyn Brady was the runner-up (34’11”), and Brady claimed fifth place in the long jump (15’5”). Junior Simone Butler chucked the shot to a fourth-place finish (27’0”), and classmate Emily Smith came in fifth in the 800 (2:28.91). Sophomore Zoe Moscovici added 1.75 points by becoming part of the aforementioned tie for fourth place in the pole vault, where she and three Episcopal athletes all cleared a 6’6” bar.

Episcopal got on a roll in the field events during the morning, and the Churchwomen never lost momentum. They came out of the field events with 52.25 points, twice as many as the closest competitor, which happened to be Penn Charter, with 25.75.

On the track, the early injury to Broadwater completed the devastation of the SCH relay team that had won the state indoor championships in the 4 x 400 and placed second in the 4 x 200. One member of the quartet left the team back in March, while junior Julia Reeves and freshman Allie Kitchell suffered injuries during the outdoor season.

In addition to the 100 hurdles and the 100-meter dash, Broadwater had been signed up for the 300 hurdles and the 200 dash, where she had also been the favorite.

The 300 hurdles title went to Agnes Irwin senior Marin Bloise (46.04), who also won the long jump (15’11.5”). The 2015 Krouse Award went to EA’s Margaux Paolino, a junior who has committed to Duke for field hockey. She won the 100 (12.65) and 200 (26.11), and finished third in the 400 meters, compiling 26 points for the day.

Episcopal also won the high jump with Gianna Smith (5’1”) and the shot put courtesy of fellow senior Christine McCann (30’7.5”). In addition to winning both the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relay races, resurgent Notre Dame had junior Mikayla Schneider place first in the open 400 meters (56.59) and the 800 (2:23.60).

Among area schools, the best relay result was produced by Germantown Academy in the 4 x 400, where O’Hara, Cerebe, Villari, and Goldstein finished third in 4:10.28.