EPHS Girls Indoor Track: RI Division Champions!

The Townie Indoor Track & Field squad won the Eastern Division Championship on January 28th with a stunning performance outdistancing the closest competitor by 15 points. East Providence scored 73 points compared to Prout 58, Wheeler 57, and Hope 56. "I knew it was going to be close and any one of those top tier teams could've won. It came down to the 1000m and Lily Palumbo and Taylor Heck ran a tough race and were able to hold off a crew of talented Prout High runners," said Head Coach Michael Almeida. The Townies won the division for the first time since 2010. "We have a young team comprised of mostly sophomores and freshmen. We recently found some success during the regular season finishing 8-1 and now entering the championship meets and winning the division," said first year coach Almeida. While Almeida coaches other sports, this was his first time coaching high school girls. "I am so proud of my girls right now. We had so many standout performances," said Almeida.

As for the Division tourney, Palumbo placed 2nd and Heck 6th in the 1000m. Palumbo, Christy Long, Krystal Pizzi, and Taylor Heck won the 4x800m relay and currently are ranked top 6 in the state. Palumbo also placed 2nd in the 3000m. Long placed 2nd in the 600m. Haley Teodoro won the high jump, Kylie Bahry placed 4th and Riley Farnsworth 6th. Hasna Badji placed 2nd in the 55m hurdles. 4x200m placed 3rd ( Jade Braxton, Hailey Placido, Alyssa DeOliveira, and Hasna Badji). 4x400m relay placed 3rd ( Placido, Badji, Bahry, and Megan Enes). Dorian Woods placed 5th in the shot put. Placido also got her best long jump of the year placing 6th.

"Next we are preparing for freshman states and the Class A meet. While we won't be favored to win the state championship this year, we will show up and work hard. We are growing and will continue to be contenders going forward," said Almeida. "I wanted to establish a culture and getting everyone on board to share our common goals of improving our personal records every meet and trying to become State Champions," he added.

Earlier in the month, EP defeated Central Falls High 73-34 and Hope High 78-25. The Townies finished 8-1 to close out the regular season. First place finishers were Briana McCarthy in the 3000m, Christy Long in the 1500m, Hasna Badji in the 55m hurdles and 300m, Hailey Placido in the 55m dash, Mary-Ellen Pinson, Placido,Badji, and Megan Enes in the 4x200m relay, and Kasey Playe,Placido,Badji, and Enes in the 4x400m relay. Updates at ReporterToday.com.

(Pictured individually above is Christy Long, who with her teammates won the 4x800 meters relay. She also came in 2nd in the 600 meters and 5th in the 1500 meters.)