Relay foursome wraps up spring setting new school record

BY JOE MCCONNELL

The Marblehead High girls 4x100 relay team was absolutely a force to be reckoned with this spring, according to coach Nolan Raimo, capping their sterling season by winning the State Division 3 Meet with a schoolrecord-breaking time of 49.85. The previous best of 51.60 was established in 2013.

The quartet then came in fourth in the All-States before going to Bangor, Maine, where they finished 10th in the All-New England Meet with a time of 49.88.

“In 2022, we ran a 52.35, which was close but still quite far away from the 51.60 mark,” said Raimo.

“This year’s girls 4x200 indoor relay team, which consisted of Cate Trautman, Devin Whalen, Claire Davis, Le’Daisha Williams and Ava Machado — we rotated them around in different meets — won the Division 3 State Championship Meet and then finished ninth in the entire state and 10th in New England.

The 4x200 team continued on to New Balance Nationals, where they ended up breaking the school record with a 1:46.69, which eclipsed the previous best school record of 1:48.50 by nearly two seconds that was established in 2014.

“So, going outdoors, we knew a fast relay time was inevitable in either the 4x100 or 4x400,” Raimo said.

The team decided to focus on the 4x100 with a team that consisted of sophomore Machado, senior captain Trautman, freshman Sadie Halpern and junior Williams.

“All four runners are exceptional 100 and 200 runners, with all of them qualifying for the