HATHORNE – Superintendent Heidi Riccio and Principal Shannon Donnelly are pleased to announce that Essex Tech senior Nisa Denehy has signed a national letter of intent to attend University of Massachusetts Amherst in the fall.
Denehy, the daughter of Keith and Heather Denehy of North Reading, will compete in track and field at the Division I level for the Minutemen. Denehy will study Equine Science in the pre-veterinary track at UMass, as she is at Essex Tech.
Denehy has achieved numerous athletic honors at Essex Tech while maintaining a 3.96 grade-point average and taking Advanced Placement courses. She holds school records in the long jump and triple jump, and shares in the team record in the 4×100 meter relay.
She won both the freshman/sophomore state championship and the Massachusetts Vocational Championship in the long jump in 2019. She has won two Commonwealth Athletic Conference titles, in the long jump in 2018 and in the triple jump in 2019.
Denehy’s freshman and sophomore seasons were so successful that she was recruited by dozens of colleges despite losing her junior season to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“She is a special young lady with a natural talent for the events that she competes in,” Track and Field Coach Dan Connors said. “She performs at a very high level despite not having a lot of experience in the sport.”
“We are thrilled to celebrate this achievement with Nisa and her family,” Superintendent Riccio said. “Nisa is the model of a successful student-athlete. We look forward to seeing what more she will accomplish.”