Abby Eisold ’20 Takes First at Indoor Pentathlon

Abby Eisold ’20 took first place, Neha Kotha ’22 took sixth, and Susanne Kowalska ’21 took eighth at the Purple Championship HS Invitational Indoor Pentathlon. The three varsity girls’ winter track members participated in 55-meter hurdles, long jump, shot put, high jump, and 800-meter run events at the Armory in Manhattan on Saturday, February 15, 2020.

“The event had eleven very good pentathletes entered. It is judged by a tally of scores from each of the five events,” said Mike Bailey, winter track and field head coach. “The scoring goes up by amounts based on your time, distance, and heights. The point scales go from one point to over a thousand.”

The three athletes were not the best in any of the five individual events, but they worked hard during each event to get every point they could with every jump and throw. At the end of the high jump, the competition was in a very close and all three Cougars needed to run their personal best in the final event—the 800-meter run—to place well in the final rankings.

“When the girls came up to me after the high jump and asked what they needed to do, we talked about the strategy and pace each would need to run,” said Mike. “They left with a sense of Cougar Pride and committed that they would just do it.”

As the final race started, Mike thought they went out too fast for their pace. “I didn’t want to discourage them, and just yelled encouragement as they passed me,” said Mike. “All three kept a pace that was new to each of them and they finished incredibly. It is so rewarding to see our student-athletes grow through adversity and succeed. Our girls worked extremely hard to compete against the odds and come out well!”

Abby and Neha return to the Armory on Tuesday, February 18, 2020, for Eastern States Championships.

Finals
1. Abby Eisold ’20 2979 PR George School
2. Leeann Redlo ’22 2814 PR Bayport Blue Point
3. Chloe Stanfield ’20 2776 PR Downingtown West
4. Afua Agyekum ’21 2680 PR Pope John XXIII
5. Cassandra Coster ’21 2642 PR Arlington
6. Neha Kotha ’22 2447 PR George School
7. Nina Burghouts ’21 2030 PR Harrison
8. Susanne Kowalska ’21 2020 PR George School