NORWELL — Memorial Day weekend is widely regarded as the unofficial start to the summer season. With that comes blazing temperatures. And with the weather at the Division 4 track and field championships Saturday at Norwell High School reaching the mid-90s, a scorching sun gave athletes something to worry about aside from the competition.
As Ursuline’s Lauren Grela crossed the finish line first in the girls’ 2-mile run with a time of 11 minutes 22.70 seconds, she proceeded to dump a cup of cold water over her head to cool down.
“I’ve been preparing for it,’’ Grela said in regard to the heat. “I’ve been pouring water over my head all day. But I was ready for it. I’ve never run in this type of heat.’’
The heat didn’t slow the freshman as she extended her lead with each lap, and eventually beat second-place finisher Michaela Halloran of Amesbury by nearly 18 seconds.
“[Getting an early lead] was definitely my plan today,’’ Grela explained. “My plan going in was to kind of go easy and hang on, and then make a move.’’
In the boys’ 2-mile, Norwell sophomore Steven O’Driscoll captured the crown in 10:08.94.
Heading into the final lap, O’Driscoll was trailing Newburyport’s Joe Molvar for the lead by just steps. In the final 50 meters, O’Driscoll squeezed out his last bit of energy to overtake Molvar (third place, 10:10.11) for the lead. Drew Everett of Amesbury overtook Molvar in the final seconds to finish second (10:09.60).
“I was aiming for second, but I was like, ‘Wait, he’s slowing down,’?’’ O’Driscoll explained. “So in the final split second, I decided to jump ahead.’’
For the majority of the race, O’Driscoll was bunched up with Molvar and Everett at the head of the pack. While Molvar led for much of the time, O’Driscoll stayed on his tail.
“I like to stay behind and let them tire themselves out,’’ O’Driscoll said. “And then kind of just heat up.’’
Amesbury took the boys’ team crown, finishing with 74.5 points. A first-place finish from Heath King (13 feet) in the pole vault and Fred Halloran in the 400-meter hurdles (56.22) were huge factors.
Norton finished second with 70.5 points, while North Reading (57), Newburyport (54.5), and Watertown (45) rounded out the top five.
One of the big individual winners in the girls’ events was Ipswich senior Michaela Hedderman, who finished first in the 400-meter hurdles (65.25) and in the 400-meter dash (58.49), and ran in the 4 x 400-meter relay.
“I felt pretty strong,’’ Hedderman said in regards to the 400 hurdles. “I usually feel pretty nervous before I run, and I wasn’t nervous, so that’s one of the reasons I did better.’’
With nerves aside helping her to a victory in the hurdles, coming into the 400-meter dash with a victory under her belt on the day certainly calmed her down.
“Usually when I do the hurdles, I’m much more nervous than the 400,’’ Hedderman explained.
“Going into the 400, I felt great because there weren’t hurdles in it, so I was definitely looking forward to running it.’’
Bellingham senior Sarah Edwards and Norton junior Brooke-Lynn Williams also put together impressive individual performances.
Edwards took first in the mile (4:58.27) and the 800 (2:13.98). Williams finished first in the 100 (11.92) and the 200 (24.53). Her 100 time set a meet record, and tied a state record.
The North Reading girls finished first as a team with 99 points, thanks in large part to impressive field performances.
North Reading athletes swept the pole vault (Julia Valenti, 10-6; Rachel Hill, 10-6; and Victoria Grasso, 8-0), took first in the javelin (Julia McDonald, 112-5), and took second in shot put (Valenti, 39-9½).
A first-place finish in the 100 hurdles by Valenti (15.03) also helped North Reading seal the victory.
Norton finished second with 59.5 points, followed by Hamilton-Wenham (47), Weston (40), and Old Rochester (39).
