The Marblehead High spring track teams fell for the first time this year after beating Gloucester and Swampscott to open up the season earlier this month.
The formidable Peabody Tanners were the ones that spoiled their undefeated aspirations on April 18. The Tanners defeated the Marblehead boys, 101-35, while the girls were also upended, 90-46.
Girls long jump
Claire Davis took first with a leap of 16-4.5, while also topping the best long jumper in the Northeastern Conference, Savanna Vargas.
“Claire had room on the board, too, which means we could see a long jump of 17 feet from her this season,” said coach Nolan Raimo.
Sadie Halpern had a personal-best jump of 15-2 to finish fourth. Elise Burchfield (14-11.75) ended up fifth.
Campbell Crane (14-10.5) also enjoyed a personal-best performance, coming in seventh.
Boys long jump
Errol Apostolopoulos (19-1.25) opened up his long jump season with a fourth-place finish, and he was followed by Thomas Carlson (sixth, 18-6.5) and Sebastian Pantzer (17-5.25).
Isaiah Makor (16-10) did a good job competing for the first time in this event, according to Raimo. His track future in the long jump looks bright, the coach said.
Girls triple jump
Ava Machado captured second with a jump of 32-6. Keira Sweetnam (32-4) was right behind her in third place, followed by Morgan Zion (30-5) in fourth with a personal best mark this season.
“Peabody’s track design, which places the high jump across the field, made it difficult for Ava and Keira to compete in both events, but they competed well regardless,” Raimo said.
Boys triple jump
Alex Hersey (39-8.5, personal best) made his debut in this event and has already established himself as the best multi-event athlete in the conference across the hurdles, jumps and throws, according to Raimo.
His season bests so far are looking fantastic, and he will likely participate in the decathlon at the end of the season, according to Raimo.
Girls high jump
Sweetnam (5-0) finished second, and Campbell Crane (4-2) was fourth.
“It’s rare that you have two of the best high jumpers in New England at the same dual meet, but Keira and Peabody’s Brianna Ewansiha have had stellar seasons that also includes indoors this past winter,” the Marblehead coach said.
Boys high jump
Apostolopoulos cleared 5-4 on his way to finishing third.
“Errol, who competes in three events, put together another solid performance with the potential to clear 5-8 and beyond in the upcoming meets,” said Raimo.
Boys shot put
Hersey (35-2), who was the lone Marblehead athlete in this event, finished third.
“This was quite the accomplishment for him to participate in the hurdles, triple jump and shot put in the same meet,” said Raimo. “Alex is only a junior, but his potential over this season and the next couple is incredible.”
Girls discus
Rachael Albert (100-2) led the way for Marblehead with a second-place finish. Hannah O’Brien (75-7) turned in a season best throw.
Samantha Clocki (50-0) came in sixth. Siena Day (48-7.5) was seventh.
“To contextualize Rachael’s discus distance, the second-place finisher at the Division 3 state championship meet last year was 92 feet,” Raimo said.
Boys discus
Angelo Knight (79-0) continued to add distance to his discus throw to finish fifth against Peabody. Tucker Crane (71-0) also threw a personal best to come in sixth. Alexander Humphreys (66-8) was seventh.
“The discus is truly an event of balance and power, and Angelo, Tucker and Alexander are all relatively new throwers who are making solid progress,” Raimo said.
Girls javelin
Devin Whalen (68-0) finished fourth. Rachael Albert (66-9) ventured away from the shot put to throw the javelin to a fifth-place finish. Sienna Day (50-3) was seventh and Samantha Clocki (40-0) eighth.
Boys javelin
Knight (103-0) broke the 100-foot barrier again to finish third. Humphreys (93-11, personal best) was fourth, followed by Colin Hart (88-6, personal best) fifth and Tucker Crane (68-5) eighth.
Girls 400-meter hurdles
Whalen (69.8) won the event in convincing fashion, with a time a mere second away from the All-State automatic qualifier.
Boys 400-meter hurdles
Magnus McCarthy (1:04.4) unofficially finished third in the long hurdles. Marc Grazado (71.0) crept toward last year’s personal best to finish fifth.
Quinn Scheib (80.5) improved his time by two seconds to finish sixth.
Girls two-mile
Marrietta O’Connell (12:09, a five-second personal best) won going away, once again.
“Marri is a force who remains unbeaten in the NEC at this distance,” coach William Herlihy said. “It will be exciting to see her race against stronger competition later this season.”
Boys two-mile
Will Cerrutti arrived in Peabody at 12:49 p.m. after not being sure he was going to make it to the meet, leaving him just 10 minutes to prepare before the race, according to Herlihy. But he did not hesitate when asked to step up.
“(Cerrutti) ran an excellent race, finishing first in 10:18, which is a very impressive time, but the race itself was even more impressive,” Herlihy said. “Will has the racing acumen of a seasoned veteran. His ability to control a race from the front makes him a nightmare to go up against. He was constantly surging and keeping the Peabody runner in positional limbo, and then he turned on the afterburners in the final lap to put away any doubt.”
Girls 100/110-meter hurdles
Whalen (16.5) finished second, and Davis (17.2) finished third.
“Their times are impressive considering the cold temps and headwind that makes the rhythm of the hurdles that much harder,” Herlihy said.
Boys 100/110-meter hurdles
Hersey (16.5) remains undefeated on the season in this event. Apostolopoulos (18.3), who has been battling a heel injury, finished fourth. Grazado (20.4) was sixth.
Girls 100 meters
Machado (13.0) ended up second.
“Ava has floated around the 13-second barrier all season, which is impressive considering the conditions,” Raimo said. “But most impressive of all, she was able to stick with Savanna Vargas the whole race. Savanna is a top nationwide sprinter in the 55 meters.”
Liv Carlson (14.4) finished fourth and Ariella Kahn (15.0) fifth while making their varsity debuts.
Boys 100-meters
Thomas Carlson (11.4) finished second. Jacob Bobowski (12.0) sprinted to a fourth-place finish. Slater Johnson (12.3) came in fifth.
“This group of sophomores and freshmen ran well against one of the best sprint squads in the conference,” Raimo said.
Girls mile
Martha Heffernan (7:07.6, a 10-second personal best) finished third, and Summer Genovese (7:16.2, a nine-second personal best) beat out a Peabody runner on the line to come in fourth.
Boys mile
Nate Assa (5:05.3) took second behind Peabody runner Logan Tracia, who has been one of the best milers in the NEC over the years.
Henrik Adams (5:05.5, a 10-second personal best) was right on Assa’s heels the whole race to come in third. Harrison Kee (5:49.8) was fourth.
Girls 4×100
Machado, Cate Trautman, Sadie Halpern and Elise Burchfield (51.8) cruised to a first-place finish, which is a mere two-tenths of a second behind the school record of 51.60 from 10 years ago.
Boys 4×100
Harrison Curtis and Sebastian Pantzer shifted down from the 4×400 to join Carlson and Apostolopoulos, and together they ran a 45.0, which is one-tenth of a second behind the school record set seven years ago.
Girls 400
Juliet Burchfield stepped down from the distance squad to run an impressive 64.7. Ariella Kahn and Liv Carlson (fourth, 70.8, and fifth, 72.1, respectively) completed the 100 and 400 double with quality results.
Boys 400
Xavier Grazado (58.0), like Burchfield, ran the 400 instead of his typical 800, and he ended up finishing fourth overall. Hart remained under the 60-second mark to come in fifth.
Girls 800
Doubling up in the two-mile and 800, O’Connell (2:41.7) finished third, taking a second off her time from the previous meet.
“This is a grueling double, but Marri has never shied away from the challenge, and she is getting valuable experience in every race that will help maximize her racing by the end of the season,” Herlihy said.
Ada Merrigan (2:45.7) was close behind, coming in fourth, while making her debut in this event.
Boys 800
Isaac Gross set the tone in lap one, but ultimately the Peabody runner was able to close in the final 200.
Gabe Bayramian (2:08) and Gross (2:08.4) ran very well and were able to hold off the other Peabody runner in the closing stretch to finish among the top three. Peter Sullivan (2:21.8) ended up fifth.
Girls 200
Trautman (26.3) finished second. Sadie Halpern opened up her season in the 200 with a third-place time of 27.4. Morgan Zion (29.7) finished fifth.
Boys 200
Harrison Curtis (22.85, personal best) finished second. Sebastian Pantzer narrowly missed a personal-best time of 23.39 to come in third. Logan Doody (27.49) was fifth.
Boys 4×400
Bayramian, Assa, Adams and Cerrutti (4:08.5) ran together to close out the meet.
“Bayramian, in particular, deserves a ton of credit for first running a great 2:08 in the 800 before turning it around to run a 61.0 in this relay about 10 minutes later, which is a remarkable achievement,” Raimo said. “Even after recovering for an hour, the 800-to-400 double is excruciating, and I genuinely don’t know how Gabe endured it.”
