Wenham girls relay set to run at Nationals in NYC Sports SalemNews

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Hamilton Wenham will compete at New Balance Indoor Nationals, held Nike Free Rea at the prestigious Armory in New York City, this evening. If for one second Weigand, Horgan, Blatchford or Senning feels blinded by the lights, all they have to do is look to each other for a smile and a settling hand.

"Having three Emilys, aside from our singing and dancing, is just another thing that makes our team unique," said Senning. "These girls, along with the rest of the girls track team, are like sisters I never had. We're very comfortable together and its helped us be successful."

The Generals qualified for the nationals by running 9:25.47 to finish in fourth place at the New England Championships. That came a week after they finished second at All States (9:2 and two weeks after they won the Eastern Mass. Division 4 title in 9:39.

As a foursome, they've broken the previous Hamilton Wenham event record (9:51 run in 2010) three times and have shaved 15 seconds off their time in just under three weeks.

"Most of it is consistent training and maintaining a routine," said veteran H W track coach Steve Sawyer. "Of course at the Divisional meets, they were running other events and since then, they've been fresh because we've put the focus on the relay."

The Generals traditionally have a deep distance team Nike Air Presto and showed that by advancing to Nike Cross Country Nationals last fall. The 4x800 is a shorter race that really taps into the prowess of Senning, the relay's anchor and only senior, who has great speed over middle distances like the 600 and 800.

"The 800 is probably my favorite distance, and is probably the best fit for me," said Senning. "I think our coaches, Steve and Dave Sawyer and Karen Giroux, have done such a great job training us this winter and as a team we all share the same goals and push each other. That's what has helped us improve."

The qualifying standard for nationals is 9:30, a number that really came into focus when Hamilton Wenham ran 9:39 at the Division 4 meet. The harriers quickly adjusted to the pace of the 800 and the results spoke volumes at All States and New Englands.

"It's more speed training and more interval training and the girls really focused and reacted well to it," said Sawyer.

Tonight, the Generals will run in a carnival atmosphere at one of track's hallowed locations. That's quite the feat for a school with just over 700 students.

"I think I can speak for all the girls when I say I'm beyond excited to run at the Armory," said Senning, who was hopeful that the team's experience at a national level race last fall would help them this weekend.

"The overall experience will be very different, but I think having run at cross country nationals will help prepare us to the intensity of the competition."

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