It’s a Cinderella story…no, it’s not, people, because the Wildcat Girls aren’t waiting for a prince and there are absolutely no glass slippers allowed on the track at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. Saturday’s Division 5 MSTCA* Relay meet was won by Weston for the first time since 2013 and it all came down to the last race because who needs to breathe? Not these parents. And not these athletes–remember that masks are mandatory at indoor track and these student-athletes are amazing.

Before the Owl hands off to Coach Monz’s incredible write-up, I have to say this is the first relay meet I have ever attended and there was an interesting array of races including a Distance Medley with legs of 1200m, 400m, 800m and then 1200m. That is the craziest race I have ever watched — by lap 10, you have no actual idea who is in first place. Someone knew but it was not me. Other races include the more traditional 4×400 and 4×800, and then another wrench in the works which is the relay high jump and long jump. Hunh? How do you do a relay there? Oh yes, adding.

Anyway…to the Monz write-up (official (boring) results are here):

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“Well”, as our former coach and MSTCA Hall of Famer Frank Kelley used to say, “that was something.” Indeed it was. Nine points behind with one event (the 4 x 400) to go, the only chance for the girls to pull out a victory was to win the event and hope Lunenburg finished out of the points….and that’s what happened! Tally Zeller, Sloan Hinton, Annie Dong, and Emilia Tutun set a seasonal best of 4:14.85 to win the event and give Weston a 1-point victory (41-40). It’s the first time the Girls’ team has won a statewide competition since 2013, despite numerous 2nd place finishes in that time. The Herald gave Weston some love in the last paragraph of its meet coverage – here’s the LINK. The Globe article talked about us a bit less, but has a picture HERE. ” [The Owl had its own special events photographer there as well].

“When you win by one point, every single point mattered, and everyone’s contribution was crucial. As the North Reading coach said in the Globe article, “this meet tests the true depth of the team.” Well, usually. We showed up with only 13 girls for a ten-relay meet, where Lunerburg must have had around 30. We only entered 6 of the 10 events. But in those 6 events, we claimed 2 1sts, 3 3rds, and a 4th. Everyone did multi-event duty; Kaitlyn Ewald placed in 3 events (high jump, long jump, and sprint medley), all of which occurred at about the same time. We were shuttling her back & forth between events frantically, but she kept her composure and pulled it off. Everyone put forth a great effort and the athletes competed hard from the first event to the last. It was a special performance.” – Coach John Monz

Go ‘cats!

*MSTCA=Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association