Samantha Kass’19 hands off to Jessica Griffin’17 in the 4×800 (Chris Heermann’18/Media)

This past week, the girls track team competed in the MSL championship meet, kicking off their postseason. After a strong showing at the preliminaries and field event finals on Tuesday, May 9, the girls took home a close second place in the running event finals on Friday, May 12, losing to Grandview Heights by only 7.5 points.

To advance to the finals in individual events, a runner, thrower, or jumper must place in the top 8 for her event. Relay teams are automatically in the finals.

Academy sent strong athletes to compete at the MSL, so it was no surprise that our girls placed as highly as they did.

Muriel Goldfarb’18 placed sixth in the 100 meter dash. Jessica Griffin’17 placed fourth in the 200 meter dash and second in the 400. 

Audrey Grammel’17 and Callista Popp’19 placed first and fourth, respectively, in the 800. Grammel also placed second in the 1600, followed closely by her sister Annalise Grammel’20, who placed third. Grammel’20 and senior Lily Kaufman placed second and fifth in the 3200, respectively. 

Ginnie Ma’19 placed second in the 100 meter hurdles and fifth in the 300 hurdles. Ma also anchored a third place  with the 4×100 team, running with Bri Dragin’18, Goldfarb, and Sarah Neltner’20.

Dragin and Goldfarb, along with sophomores Samantha Kass and Mercedes Crestanello, placed fifth in a close 4×200.

Academy also placed first in both the 4×400, run by Crestanello, Grammel’17, Griffin, and Kass, and in the 4×800, run by Grammel’17, Grammel’20, Kass, and Griffin.

Juniors Khloe Dubenion and Lexis Hughes placed second and fourth, respectively, in the discus. Hughes also placed first in the shotput, and  Dubenion took seventh.

Mabry Nichols’20 tied for fourth in the high jump, and Ma placed fifth in the long jump.

Academy heads to Watkins for districts. Preliminaries are on Tuesday, May 16, and Thursday, May 18. Finals are on Saturday, May 20.