Ashland 4x200 Relay Team Sets Records

The Ashland 4 x 200 girls relay team has been putting up good numbers in the event all year long, they but decided to save the best for the end of the year. In its last five meets the Ashland sprinters took home four first-place finishes and a third-place finish, each time they lowered their time; including two record-breaking runs.
After grabbing a first-place finish with a time of 1:51.07 in the Winter Festival, which took place during the beginning of the season at the Reggie Lewis Center (RLC), the Clocker foursome continued to decrease their time. Despite finishing third at the East Coast Invitational at the Providence Career and Technical School, Ashland posted a time of 1:50.08 in the event, almost a full minute lower than the last time.
The next race was the Division 5 Coaches Relay once again at the RLC, where Ashland broke the record for the first time crossing the finish with a time of 1:48.02, and one week later, bested that time at the Coaches Invitational with a time of 1:47.50 for another first-place finish. Things wrapped up as the Ashland girls took home another first-place finish at the Tri-Valley Championship.
The Ashland 4x200 squad has been comprised of five different girls. Sophomore Elena Pellegrini usually runs the first leg with sophomore Isabella Tirabassi running the second leg. Senior Emily Finnegan or freshman Sabryna Reyes run the third leg and senior Alyssa Zee is the team’s anchor.
In addition to running the 4x 200 relay, the five sprinters have all qualified to run in individual events. Pellegrini, Tirabassi, Finnegan and Zee have all qualified for the 55 meter dash, while Reyes, the 300. Finnegan has also qualified for the 600, and Zee, the 300.
“Outside of Sabryna, the other four girls have run together in the past in either the spring or winter track,” Coach Christine Avery said. “I knew that they were all good coming in, but they’ve been running much faster as of late. They’re good in their individual events, but they’re much stronger together in the relay.”
Depending on whichever of the five girls are participating in the 4x200 on any given day, the Clocker runners have owned the event. Individually, Zee is the team’s top point scorer, while Pellegrini is right behind her. The others three are quality finishers in their event, and Reyes looks only to get better over the next three years.
We’ve talked about improving each and every meet,” the coach said. “With our ultimate goal being to get to the Nationals.”
As an overall team, the Clockers will have a really tough time making it to the Nationals since they are one of the smallest schools in the Tri-Valley League. Although they have some phenomenal athletic talent, according to Avery, it’s way too tough for the school to compete against some of the bigger schools.
The Ashland 4x200 relay team is hoping that they can continue to lower their times in the Division 5 State Meet, and hopefully the All States and maybe even the Nationals.