NEW YORK — It started out as just a group of four girls who just wanted to have some fun in the Big Apple.
By the time it ended, however, they ended up living a dream that none them ever imagined could happen.
Lynnfield High seniors Kate Mitchell and Juliana Passatempo along with Mitchell’s freshman twin sisters Ashley and Lauren Mitchell ran the race of their young lives Friday at the New Balance Indoor Nationals Track Championships at the Armory in New York City, blazing their way to a bronze medal in the Girls Emerging Elites 1600 Sprint Medley Relay with a time of 4:10.48. All four girls set personal bests in their respective legs, an amazing feat considering this was the first time they had ever run the race.
“We didn’t decide until two weeks ago basically, that we should try to qualify,” said Kate Mitchell, who will be running cross country and track at Boston College. “Coach Braz suggested it, so really we were just happy to be here. It was all about having fun as we already thought we had the ultimate reward in just qualifying and running in a national meet as a team. None of us expected that we do what we did, we thought maybe we could place top-10, but third place was not even something we ever thought about. It’s just so exciting and to do it as a team, was something none of us will ever forget.”
Running in the fourth of five heats, the Pioneers were in sixth place after strong legs in the 200 by Passatempo and Lauren Mitchell and 400 by Ashley Mitchell. By the time Ashley had handed the baton to sister Kate, the Pioneers were a good 10 seconds behind the leaders, Wilson Memorial (N.Y.) and Eagles Track (MA), who had taken the race out at an extremely fast pace. With 300 meters to go, Mitchell made her move, and slowly picked off every runner in front of her. By the time she hit the finish line, she set a PR by two seconds, and lifted the Pioneers into first place with one heat to go. Westerly R.I. and the Andover Warriors duked it out in the final heat, with Westerly winning in 4:05.49 and Andover (4:09.73) barely edging out the Pioneers for the silver medal.
Mitchell’s split of 2:10.04 was the fastest 800 of the 30 anchor legs.
Mitchell said she was right where she wanted to be going into her leg.
“It’s always easier running from behind because you see the whole race in front of you,” she said. “Plus we were in the perfect heat, and don’t think we would have been as successful had we been in the last heat because those girls went out so fast. It’s harder to close space than to just look ahead and just pick off runners one by one, so really we were in the perfect heat and had perfect running conditions with all of us setting PRs.”
For Passatempo, finishing third in the nation was extra sweet.
A captain-elect of the Pioneers girls basketball team that finished 3-15 this year after winning just one game in each of the prior two seasons, she opted to run indoor track for the first time.
Kate Mitchell still has some work to do in New York before returning to Lynnfield Sunday night. She is scheduled to compete in the Championship 800 Sunday morning at 10:15. Following yesterday’s relay, she said the plan was to stay off her feet as much as possible and indulge in a couple of ice baths.
“The best part of this meet is that I had teammates with me, for the first time in four years,” she said. “Freshman year, we had maybe 20 girls or so on the team and I always had to run alone, train alone, and go to meets alone, so this year has been fantastic. “
