Just like the boys this past weekend, we had a number of track & field athletes show up with their ‘A’ games at the New Balance Nationals and the Nike Indoor Nationals on the girls’ side, too.. Likewise, it made it difficult for us to choose just one HOKA Athlete of the Week.
For this week’s honor, we nominate two worthy athletes – Moses Brown’s Sophia Gorriaran and Lincoln’s Jillian Leahy. For Gorriaran, she put the finishing touch on an outstanding indoor career as a high-schooler by capturing the 800-meter run (2:07.30) during Saturday’s competition at the Nike Indoor Nationals. The Harvard-bound senior, of course, was not finished there. Gorriaran came back on Sunday and engaged in a tight battle in the mile run where she placed third overall at 4:41.94. The gifted senior put the bookend to the weekend by anchoring her team’s fifth-place 4x400m relay squad that was timed in a season best of 3:57.23.
The Lions’ Leahy concluded a highly-successful season in the weight throw by placing second overall in her specialty at the New Balance Nationals with an all-time best of 54 feet, 1.75 inches, an effort that earned the Brown University-bound senior All-American status for the first time. Leahy’s unleashed her best throw on her final attempt. She was just .04 meters behind eventual winner Mary Ella Brooks. The Lions senior demonstrated amazing consistency from behind the cage this winter. Her performance at NBN was her seventh time over 50 feet. In addition, she had four more meets where she exceeded 49 feet.
