One year ago, Abigail Hennessy found herself chasing.
It was a rare position to be in for the Westford Academy senior track star, having won so many races in her life before. Some wondered if she would return to her dominant self after being diagnosed with relative energy deficiency in sport (REDS).
After missing most of last season, Hennessy hasn’t simply made her triumphant comeback for Westford Academy, she is making history in the process. The University of Washington commit shattered a state record Saturday during the Meet of Champions as she blazed to an incredible finish in the one mile with a time of 4:37.46 — the fastest high school time recorded in the country this winter for the event.
“I’m just trying to soak it all in and really enjoy the indoor season, given that I didn’t really have much of one last year,” Hennessy said. “To really have fun in these races. I’ve raced a lot, and it is tiring. It’s been a lot of racing, and I’m excited to get back to some more training. But it’s been fun, to enjoy it with my teammates, and make the most out of the end of high school.”
Hennessy’s time unseated the previous state record set by Lynn Jennings in 1978, when the former U.S. Olympian ran for the Bromfield School. Hennessy is clearly back, and is breaking new barriers every single day. Just last week, Hennessy actually placed first in a college 3K event, winning the Valentine Invite at Boston University.
“I popped over to BU to run a fast time in the evening,” Hennessy said. “It was just a normal day for me, you know? If I did horribly, no one would know. I’m just a high schooler. But if I did great, then yay. That was the same deal as when I went out to Washington to run a 3K there in January as well. It was so fun to hang out with my team and stuff, get to see what it would be like without the added pressure. I get so much more worried for this meet now than any of those meets.”
Five other meet records were toppled at the TRACK at New Balance, two of which were delivered by Sharon’s Nina Kyei-Aboagye. The Tennessee commit started her day by sprinting to a winning time of 6.83 seconds in the girls 55-meter dash. During one of the top-billed races of the meet later, Kyei-Aboagye outpaced Natick star Chloe Elder to win the 300-meter dash by 0.34 ticks, finishing with a stunning mark of 38.33 seconds.
“Couldn’t have imagined a better way to end the season,” Kyei-Aboagye said. “I’m just happy that my training paid off. Trusted the process, and made it this far.”
Ryan Pulpi finished as a double winner for Reading, winning the boys 55-meter dash at 6.41 seconds. His best performance came in the 300-meter dash, however, as he set a new meet record with a time of 33.82 seconds.
“It feels great,” Pulpi said. “Lot of hard work went into this season. I have great coaches that back me up, great teammates that back me up as well, so it makes it easy. But, I’m very happy with what I could accomplish today.”
Emmanuella Edozien, an Arkansas commit, continued her impeccable career for Natick by placing first in the girls 55-meter hurdles. The senior coasted to a meet record time of 7.92 seconds, besting the prior mark set in 2012 by Brockton track star Vanessa Clerveaux.
“It was definitely really good,” Edozien said. “I’m happy with everything that I’m doing in practice. I made a few changes the last couple of weeks with my start, so I’m happy that I was able to execute it well here today.”
Other noteworthy performances from the day included Lexington’s Ainsley Cuthbertson, who set a meet record in the girls weight throw with a distance of 54 feet, 10 inches. Penny Blumenthal finished as a double winner for Newton North, placing first individually in the girls 600 with a time of 1:33.51. She later played a key role for the Tigers during their victory in the 4×200 (1:44.79). In a similar fashion, Brookline senior Harry Flint placed first in the boys 1,000 (2:30.11), while aiding the Warriors to a win in the 4×800 (7:59.99).
