High School Sports: Girls Outdoor Track

The Bulldogs better a handful of team, state and regional records in the process.

01:00 AM EDT on Monday, June 21, 2004

Westerly High relay teams continued to re-write the record books -- all the while bettering state marks they had previously set -- during the weekend's two-day National Scholastic High School Track Championships at the University of North Carolina in Raleigh. In so doing, the Bulldogs enhanced their already impressive résumé and stand as the most successful girls' track program in league annals.

Running in humid conditions at UNC's nine-lane Paul Derr Track, the Westerly sprint medley relay team clocked 4 minutes, 02.33 seconds, good for fourth place. The medley consists of a leadoff leg of 400 meters followed by a pair of 200-meter legs, and anchored by an 800-meter run. Doing the honors for the Bulldogs were Amy Lapare, Tiffany Harris, Katie Lima and Samantha Gawrych, who ran the 800-meter anchor leg in a 2:09.5 split.

The Bulldogs' performance broke their own Rhode Island state mark of 4:06.73, set last year. It shattered the New England sprint medley mark of 4:06.09, set in 2002 by a team from Framingham, Mass., on the same UNC track.

In the girls' 4x800 relay, Westerly again bettered its own state-record performance. The fourome of Mackenzie Ferreira, Lindsay Post, Lima and Gawrych placed seventh with a time of 9:13.53, surpassing their own record of 9:23.79, set just a week earlier at the New England Championships in Plymouth, Mass.

The Bulldogs broke another of their state records, this time in the 4x200-meter relay, clocking 1:45.11 for 15th place overall. Westerly owned the previous 4x200 mark: 1:46.10, also set last year.

Gawrych -- who is the state's 800- and 1,500-meter titlist and record-holder -- broke her own R.I. standard for 800 meters in that event. Finishing third in a tight field Saturday afternoon, she was timed in 2:09.90, the nation's 15th-fastest this season. Gawrych eclipsed her previous state mark of 2:11.71, which she set at the state meet a year ago, downing Laura Turner's longtime standard.

Breaking from a staggered start 100 meters into Saturday's race, Gawrych held the pole position throughout, settled into third and hit her 400-meter split in 62.1. The race was won by Virginia's Sarah Bowman in 2:04.94.

In the meet-ending 4x400 relay Saturday night, a Gawrych-anchored Westerly quartet placed 14th overall in a time of 3:57.99.

In other meet highlights:

Rhode Island again showed its dominance in the hammer event. In the girls' 4-kilogram competition, Barrington senior Erin Donnelly unloaded the ball a winning 159 feet, 3 inches (48.55 meters). Donnelly entered the meet top-ranked. South Kingstown's Meg Joyce finished third with a throw of 159-3 (48.55).

In the boys' 12-pound hammer, Hendricken's John Freeman placed fourth with a distance of 185-10 (56.65), while teammate Brendan Lodge came in fifth. Lodge's mark was 182-5 (55.60).

In the boys' triple jump, Hope High senior and University of Rhode Island-bound Peter Gbaa leapt 47 feet, 7 inches (14.50), good for eighth place.

Gbaa also finished second in heat no. 3 of the 110-meter high hurdles in 14.39; his time, however, wasn't enough to qualify him for the finals.

La Salle junior Matt Maloney finished eighth in the boys' javelin competition with a throw of 186-6 (56.86). Maloney is the state's javelin champion and record-holder (203-1, or 61.90 meters).

Hope entered two boys' relays at the Nationals. In the 4x200, the Blue Wave finished 16th overall with a time of 1:31.72. Hope's 4x400 relay team came in 15th with a 3:23.81 clocking.