Bedford rising

Friday, January 27, 2012

Joe Marchilena photo Bedford's Jenny Mara gets over the bar in the girls high jump at Saturday's Division II track championship. Mara finished first in the high jump and the Bedford girls came in second overall.

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The Bedford High School girls indoor track team has had quite the season.

The Bulldogs have gone up against several Division I schools, and finished ahead of almost all of them, including an unbeaten run at the University of New Hampshire’s track.

Not a bad way to prepare for the Division II meet, which will be held Feb. 5 at 10:30 a.m. at Dartmouth College.

“We held our own against them,” Bedford coach Emily Blahnik said. “Last weekend, we were the only Division II team, but our girls won by two points. That was exciting.”

Bedford has been getting contributions from across the board, and the Bulldogs just might in the division championship, too, as they have someone qualified in every event except the 600-meter run. And in some events, Bedford, which finished seventh in indoor last year and second in outdoor, has multiple competitors looking to eat up points.

Senior co-captain Hannah Zeltner is seeded first in the 3,000 and will run in the 1,500, one of three runners – along with Morghan Linehan and Kristen Larosa – qualified in that event. Linehan is also qualified in the 1,000 while Bedford has the top time in the 4x800 relay, and the Bulldogs are seeded second in the 4x160 and 4x400.

Perhaps Bedford’s best shot at a first-place finish is junior Jenny Mara. In her four seasons of high school track, Mara has won the high jump three times, and this season, she’s seeded first with a height six inches better than anyone else in the division.

“We’re all doing things to get better,” Mara said. “It’s fun. The reason I do track is the team itself. We all like each other and we all have a good time. We’re very different, but we all fit together well. There are kids that if (Blahnik) asked them to do an event they normally wouldn’t do, they all would do it without any questions.”

That’s been something Blahnik has seen from the team all season long.

“They are very scrappy,” she said. “They want to win and they are the kindest group of girls you will ever know. They’re hard-working. I can give them 10 directions and it’s done perfectly.”

The Bulldogs have also gotten contributions from a strong sophomore class led by Johanna Celli and Brenna Williams. Celli is seeded second in the 55 and third in the 300, while Williams is second in the long jump and 10th in the 300.

“There’s a nice balance,” Blahnik said of the team’s makeup. “We’re kind of young, but there’s leadership to help out.”

One of those leaders is co-captain Rachael Lowney, who has experienced running in the championship meet at Dartmouth and hopes that rubs off on the younger runners.

“(It’s) more like a handful out of the entire team,” she said. “A lot of the ones we have (qualified), they’ve already been working with people who have been there. They know what to expect.”

With one more qualifying meet before the big day, Blahnik would like to get some into the 600, and she’d like to see her team stay the course.

“I feel that right now, where we are, if they rise to the occasion and do what they’ve already done, we’re in a good position,” she said. “We still have one more meet to smooth out the wrinkles. I think they’ll be ready to go.”