When it comes to the long and triple jumps, Adja Sackor has been dominant in the Bay State the last two years, winning four state titles in the two events since the indoor season in 2016. It should be status quo this spring for the Worcester Tech senior. Sackor is the leading contender in both events with distances that are more than a foot further than her nearest rival.
In the long jump, Sackor has had a number of leaps in the high 18-, low 19-foot range, achieving a PR and All-American status at the New Balance Nationals last month with a best of 19-5.5. Sackor's chief rival in this event would appear to be Ashland's Alyssa Zee, who was third at last year's states with a PR of 18-3.5. Taunton's Samantha Tichelor and Wellesley's Joanna Kennedy, are the only other athletes that have done 18 feet. Tichelor was second at last year's Eastern Division I Meet with a best of 18-1. Kennedy was second to Seckor at the All State Meet where she also went 18-1, more than a foot improvement from what she did last year as a sophomore.
Sackor was fifth in the triple jump at last year's New Balance Nationals where she leaped a PR of 40-1.25. She won the state meet by a half inch over Cambridge Rindge and Latin graduate Brianna Duncan. It shouldn't be that close this time around. Foxboro's Shraeya Srinivasan and Springfield Central's Damahya Phipps are two of the top returnees. Both made it to the podium last year with Srinivasan and Phipps taking third and seventh, respectively. Srinivasan achieved a best of 38-10.5 with a runner-up placement at the Glenn B. Loucks Games in New York. Phipps did 38-0 in the off-season, attaining that mark at the USATF National Junior Olympics in late July.
Six of the top eight finishers in the high jump will be returning this year, including defending champion Caroline Hitchcock of Agawam, runner-up Anna Jordahl-Henry of Wellesley and Hingham's Zoe Dainton, the recent indoor titlist.
Judging by this past indoor season, Dainton would appear to have the edge over her competition. She was consistently over 5-5 this winter with a state best of 5-8 at the divisionals. She was also the New England titlist where she cleared 5-7. Hitchcock did 5-7 last year as a junior, but her best this past season was 5-4. If she can match or exceed what she did in 2016, she could contend. Jordahl-Henry had a breakthrough freshman campaign where she was one of the top ninth-graders in the country with a PB of 5-7.75, a height that got her eighth at the NBN. She wasn't able to come close to that performance this winter with a best of 5-4. If she can get back to her old form, you would have to believe that she'll be among the leaders. And we can't forget her sister Julia Jordahl-Henry, who was second at the State Meet in February where she matched Dainton's winning 5-6 effort.
The pole vault features five athletes that cleared 10 feet or higher last year, led by North Reading's Rachel Hill. Hill was second at last year's states where she had a PB of 10-6. Maynard's Christy Teska, a then freshman, was third at 10-0. Other returnees from that meet are Lunenberg's Hannah Leahy (fourth, 10-0) and Pioneer Valley's Victoria Lakoski (eighth, 9-6). Reading Memorial's Haley Lightbody (10-6) and Nashoba Regional's Meredith Goad (10-3) are two more 10-footers. This event appears to be evenly-matched with a number of athletes in the mix.