Girls 400 Relay, Perkins Crowned Eastern Mass Div. 3 Track Champs

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Photo: The Belmont High 4×400 meter relay: Danielle Kelly, Meggie MacAulay, Sara Naumann and Julia Cella.

When junior 200-meter specialist Julia Cella crossed the finish line just after 8 p.m. on Saturday, May 28, the automatic timer on the Burlington High School track read: 3 minutes 57.01 seconds.

It would be a record time for the Belmont High School Girls’ 4×400 meter relay squad, breaking an 17-year-old record by 4/10th of a second in the Eastern Mass Division 3 championships.

It was another fastest time ever for the four teammates. But it was not just the best time by a team in one division of one corner of the state. The quartet of junior Danielle Kelly, senior Meggie MacAulay, junior Sara Naumann and junior Julia Cella make up the best 4×400 relay in all of Massachusetts. 

The relay’s victory – by more than a second over the team from track-powerhouse Tewksbury – was just part of a great three days for the Girls’ Outdoor Track at the divisional championships, as the girls coached by Melissa Glotzbecker finished 8th with 38 points, only five points from a top four placement.

Yet all the noise wasn’t just coming from the girls’ side of the track. Belmont sophomore Calvin Perkins took home the 400 meter title with an outstanding 50.61 second over the one lap, outpacing Lamont Haynes of Boston Tech by more than 6/10th of a second, solidifying his position as a sprinter who could be a dominating factor in the event. 

Joining Perkins on a podium was senior Luke Peterson who soared 21 feet, 10 1/2 inches in the long jump to finish third. 

Scoring for the girls included

  • Katrina Rokosz, third in the javalin, 118 feet, 3 inches.
  • Naumann, fourth in the 800 meters, 2:16.48
  • Rachel Berets, 4th in the 100 meter hurdles, 16.39
  • Samantha Kelts, 4th in the pentathlon, 2475 points
  • MacAulay, 5th in the 400 meter hurdles, 1:06.83 
  • Kelly, 6th in the 400 meters 59.73.

But it was the relay that had the track buzzing on a hot Saturday afternoon. Belmont entered the meet as the top seed, holding the fastest time in the state of 3:59.97. And the other teams facing the Marauders in the penultimate race in the meet were gunning for the leaders.

“Through the first leg, Kelly was in the hunt with runners from several other teams, including Plymouth North and Tewksbury,” recalled Glotzbecker.

“Meggie MacAulay who came off the final turn of the stagger even with the runner from Tewksbury. The handoff to Sara Naumann was close to even with the Tewksbury squad, but Sara managed to pass their third runner on the back stretch. The final hand-off to Cella was made a few meters ahead of Tewksbury and she maintained that lead” through the finish, Glotzbecker said.

“Danielle, Meggie, Sara, and Julia all ran sub-60 seconds for their splits. This team is remarkable in that they each have an equal impact on the success of the team,” said Glotzbecker.

“Another significant factor for this team is their trust in one another, and their dynamic as a team. They are able to focus on the event at hand, knowing that they are accountable for one another at that moment no matter what may have transpired for them individually earlier in the meet. Their focus and determination paired with teamwork and talent has helped dictate the success of this group this season,” their coach said. 

Competing along with the relay at All-States will be Rokosz, Naumann, MacAulay, Perkins and Peterson.

 

Cella, Jones Second to One in 200 at Divisional Track Championships

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The former sprinter and outstanding coach Latif Thomas said, the 200 meters “is the Rodney Dangerfield of the sprint events. It gets no respect. When we commonly think of the sprint events, the 100 meter dash gets all the glory and the 400 meter dash gets all the respect.”

But don’t tell Belmont’s Julia Cella and Max Jones that “the Duce” is a race no one loves.

On the Pembroke High School track Saturday, May 31, the freshman Cella and junior Jones both took second in their 200 races at the Eastern Massachusetts Division 3 Track and Field championships.

Cella powered home in 26.09, taking second to Dennis Yarmouth’s sophomore Madison Pawlina who just dipped under 26 seconds (25.98).

Over on the boys’ side, Jones’ 23.05 was only beaten by Falmouth’s Craig Green who easily won the title in 22.59, to go along with his 100-meter championship. Jones also grab a point in the long jump by finishing 8th with a jump of 18 feet, 9 1/2 inches.

But the 200 was just part of a busy day for the 9th grader. Cella took an additional second place, this time in the 100 meters in 12.74, just behind senior Jessica Scott from Hopkinton. Cella was the only freshman to compete in the finals of the 100 and 200. Yet she was not the only Belmont freshman running the 100 Saturday; Marley Williams took 16th in the crowded field.

Cella finally anchored Belmont’s 4 x 100 meter squad – made up mostly of freshmen and sophomores – to third in an outstanding time of 50.74.

By the end of the meet, Cella accounted for 22 of Belmont Girls’ 26 points which placed the Marauders in 11th place, just a point outside of the top 10.

Adding to Belmont’s point total was senior Julia Lenef – who would graduate the next day – who finished 4th in the 800 meters, finishing behind Dracut senior Karina Shepard who broke the Div. 3 record in 2:13.12. Lenef also placed 11th in the triple jump.

And just as busy as Cella, sophomore Samantha Kelts took part in the 100 meter hurdles, high jump and triple jump.

Joining Jones on the scoring table was junior Ari Silverfine who broke the two-minute barrier in the 800 with a 1.59:20 to finish fourth and grab five points.  Just missing scoring was junior Thomas Wasserman who finished 9th in the discus.