In the first indoor meet since 2020, the Tigers’ Girls’ Track and Field team began their season at home on Feb. 25 competing against 11 other teams. The Tigers’ finished fourth with 61 total points.

“It was our first indoor meet in two years, so it was super exciting to be back with everyone cheering each other on,”  junior Natalie Liapis said.

Sophomore Harriet Ghapson finished second in the long jump at 5.14 meters, being one of only two at the meet to finish over five meters, while junior Millie Ghapson finished in the top five in the high jump at 4-08. North also had two top-five finishes in pole vault with senior Emily Shafron and sophomore Teagan Kiger both finishing with 9-06, a personal record for Kiger, and Liapis finishing fourth in the 55 meter hurdles at 10.19.

“The support from my teammate Emily [Shafron], and the pole vaulters from the other school was amazing, especially when I hit my PR by clearing 9’9,” Kiger said. “The whole experience was awesome and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Freshman Elsie Czarniewski finished fifth in the 1600 meter run at 5:49:08, and senior Michelle Masis finished fourth in the 800 meter run at 2:35:41. North also had two top-five finishes in the 200 meter dash with freshman Taylor McClain at 27.94 finishing third and Harriet Ghapson at 28.57 finishing fifth. McClain also finished fifth in the 55 meter dash at 7.68.

Captain junior Mary Conley was proud of the efforts of the team – especially the girls who had not competed at  an indoor meet before.

“We had many girls achieve personal records,” Conley said. “We are a very young team, and with COVID, it was the first indoor race for most of us, so it was good to get that experience.”

The environment of the team remains one of their most important attributes, as Conley pointed out.

“The environment of the team is something we have worked to improve over the past few years,” Conley said. We are all working on being more united as a whole team, instead of just within our separate events. This season, it has been great to see everyone cheering on our teammates during races and workouts.” 

The team remains young, but there’s only room for improvement for the team, especially in the teams’ best category in the relay races, finishing second in both the 4×200 meter relay at 1:54:62, and the 4×800 meter relay at 10:21:18, as well as finishing fifth in the 4×400.

“We are a very young team, there are so many freshmen and sophomores on the varsity relays,” senior Emily Shafron said.

The team’s overall goals lie in improving their key strength of unity and the energy they bring to the track.

“Our biggest goal as a team was to become more united, and I feel like so far that has been going really well,” Conley said. “In terms of competition goals, we hope to have a top three finish as a team at conference and multiple state qualifiers for both the indoor and outdoor season.”

Liapis concurs.

“For the rest of the season, I think everyone as a whole just wants to continue to get better and have fun,” Liapis said. “Hopefully, by the end, our hard work will pay off and we have some state qualifiers.”