Portsmouth girls take 2nd in state indoor track, Merrill shines

Sophomore impresses by winning 3 events

Sophomore Elizabeth Sullivan is handed the baton by teammate Sofia White during their victory in the 2x800-meter relay race.

Tim Marshall

Senior Sofia White awaits the baton handoff from a teammate during the 2x800-meter relay race.

Tim Marshall

Senior April Youngkin hurls the shot put while competing in the weight-throwing event.

Tim Marshall

Junior Caelan Corey clears the bar of the high jump while competing in the qualifying heat of the indoor track state championships Saturday. She ended up tying for fifth place overall.

Tim Marshall

Martin Lasky topples over the bar during the pole vault exhibition.

Tim Marshall

EastBayRI.com · Monday, February 20, 2017 9:28 am

PORTSMOUTH — You’ll probably be hearing a lot more about Nikki Merrill in the next couple of years.

The Portsmouth High School sophomore was one of the stars of the R.I. Interscholastic League Indoor Track and Field Championships Saturday, notching three first-place wins in middle-distance events and being part of another victory in a relay event.

Competing at the Providence Career and Technical Academy, Merrill won the 600-meter run in a time of 1:38.62, the 1,000-meter run (3:00.39) and the 1,500 (4:42.76).

She and her teammates Olive Allen, Sofia White and Elizabeth Sullivan also combined to comfortably win the 4x800-meter relay in a time of 9:41.46.

The Portsmouth girls came in second as a team, being edged by La Salle Academy, 59-53.5, despite the fact that the Rams came in first in only one event (3,000 meters).

Sullivan also had a good day, coming in third place in the 1,000 (3:02.66) and the 1,500 (4:46.06).

Caelan Corey tied for fifth place in the high jump with a best leap of 4 feet, 10 inches.

The qualifiers from the Portsmouth High boys’ track team failed to score, although Ethan Shea set a new school record by running a 1:26.1 in the 600 meters to take eighth place.

Keywords

PHS track, Portsmouth High School