The Marblehead High boys and girls spring track seasons finally got underway on Patriots Day
at home against Peabody. The visiting Tanners, however, ended up winning both ends of the meet, beating the Marblehead boys, 79-57, while also topping the girls team, 73-63.
Boys high jump
The Tanners took the top three spots, but Ralph Pierre led the way for Marblehead after clearing 5-0 in his spring track debut. He’s coming off a solid indoor jumping season. Ryan Corrigan (4-10) as a newcomer to this event finished sixth.
Girls high jump
Paige Tredwell (4-10) finished second. Her best leap was 5-2 to win this past winter’s NEC championship. Philine Heurmann (4-10) was third. Greta Sachs (4-8), making her high jump
debut, turned in an impressive performance.
Boys shot put
Peabody as expected steamrolled its way into the top four spots, but the Magicians still made some solid throws. Grady Norfleet (30-2.5) was the clear standout, according to coach Danny Plunkett.
Norfleet hung around 24-feet on his first two throws, but then launched his personal best effort,
surpassing any previous marks by five-plus feet.
Logan McRae-Hughes was right on his heels, throwing 29-1, 28-10 and 29-0 on his throws. “This was a really strong showing from Logan in his first meet, and I love to see consistency like that across all attempts,” said Plunkett.
Brady Leveroni and Tom Asci, even newer to the event, threw 24-6.5 and 20-10, respectively to round out the Marblehead participants.
Girls shot put
The dynamic duo of Lillian Reddy and Rachael Albert continued their indoor season dominance against Peabody. Reddy was in second going into finals with her throw of 29-7.5 putting her just an inch behind Albert, but on her last attempt she threw 30-1 to secure her first outdoor win. Albert (29-8.5) ended up second.
“These two went back and forth all indoor season, and it seems like we’re picking up right where we left off as a team,” said Plunkett.
Hannah O’Brien threw 22-3.5 to round out the small girls shot put squad.
Boys long jump
Alex Hersey (21-7) faced his Peabody rival Evan Bedard right out of the gate this spring. Hersey got the best of him in the indoor NEC championship meet this winter after setting a new record, but Evan was able to avenge that loss by beating the Marblehead product by two inches in the spring opener. Hersey finished second.
Thomas Carlson (20-10) improved his personal best mark by nearly a foot to account for a third-place finish. Ryan Corrigan (19-8.5) turned in a great showing, while making his long jump debut. He finished fourth.
Girls long jump
Sadie Halpern leaped to victory with a jump of 16-7.
“Sadie had an incredible day winning all three of her events in convincing fashion (long jump, 100, 200),” said head coach Nolan Raimo.
Paige Tredwell (14-11) was second. Campbell Crane (14-5) ended up fifth.
Boys triple jump
Hersey (40-11.25) finished second, only three inches off his career best. Graham Firestone (34-8) came in sixth. Claudio Gusmao-Gonzalez (34-4.25) was right behind him in seventh place.
Girls triple jump
Philine Heuermann (32-1) was the lone Marblehead competitor in this event, and ended up second. It was only her second time competing in the triple jump.
Boys discus
No Marblehead thrower made the finals, but there’s no shame here considering the competition. In his first high school meet, McRae-Hughes was the team leader against Peabody with a throw of 78-7.
Norfleet (67-8, personal best by over four feet) picked up where he left off last year. Brady Leveroni, another newcomer to this event, started out his discus career with a toss of 66-0. Alex Humphreys, who ran straight from throwing the javelin, fouled twice, before recording a 65-9.
Girls discus
Albert (105-9, personal best by two-feet) came out on top against Alessandra Forgione of Peabody, who was the meet’s favorite. O’Brien also started off the season very well with a throw 86-8, a two-inch improvement. She ended up third. First-time thrower Lillian Reddy threw 67-4 in her first-ever outdoor meet. It was a very respectable distance given how little she’s practiced so far, according to Plunkett.
Crane threw 53-9 in her socks, because she had to sprint over from the jumping area in spikes.
Boys javelin
Graham Firestone won the javelin with a monster toss of 129-1, over 10-feet better than his personal best last year. Alex Humphreys had a rougher go of it, fouling a couple of times, because of headwinds, but he still managed a throw of 100-0 and a third-place finish.
Girls javelin
Because of spring vacation, the Magicians were short handed in this event, but freshman Julia Betz stepped up from JV to be the varsity team’s lone participant.
“Alone against the world and facing a brutal headwind, she stayed cool and tossed the javelin 55-9 for a great start to her season,” said Plunkett.
Boys 400-meter hurdles
In his first 400-meter hurdle race of his career, Hersey cracked the 60-second barrier to win the event in 59.4. Nate Jendrysik (70.8) was fifth, and Elian Colon (72.8) sixth.
Girls 400-meter hurdles
After dabbling in the hurdles during the indoor track season, Grace Mortenson (76.4) opened up the spring season with another win. Campbell Crane (88.7) stepped up on short notice to finish fourth.
Boys two-mile
Isaac Gross (9:52.5) continued his NEC distance dominance by cruising to the first spring win of the season. Jonah Potach (11:01, 12-second personal best) had the best race of his career to finish fourth.
Girls two-mile
Marri O’Connell (11:52.4) picked up right where she left off last season to remain undefeated in this event.
Boys 100
The fourth confrontation of the year between Carlson (10.7) and Peabody’s Eli Batista, the NEC’s best, resulted in a victory for the Marblehead sprinter.
“Eli won the first two indoor contests, but Tommy came back to win the NEC championship in the 55-meters,” said coach Will Herlihy.
Jake Bobowski (11.4) opened up the spring season with a third-place finish. Ryan Corrigan (11.9), making his debut in the sprints, was fifth.
Girls 100
Sadie Halpern (12.6) ran away from the field to start the season victorious. Lidia Jasmine Tiedra (14.0) was fourth, and Camryn O’Brien (14.9), stepping up on short notice to run varsity, came in sixth.
Boys 100-meter hurdles
Hersey (14.8) ran stride for stride with his Peabody counterpart for seven hurdles until the Peabody runner couldn’t keep up the pace to settle for second. Elian Colon (18.5) finished fifth, and Nate Jendrysik (20.3) was right behind him in sixth.
Girls 100-meter hurdles
Tredwell (16.9) dominated the 55-meter hurdles this past winter, and it looks like she will continue winning in the spring after an impressive opening meet triumph. Grace Mortenson (19.8) was third, and Crane (26.7) sixth.
Girls mile
Jesslyn Roemer (6:13, estimated time) picked up a point for her teammates with a third-place finish. Maren Potter (6:29) was fourth, and Shannon Hitscherich (6:36) fifth.
Boys mile
“Will Cerrutti (4:37.2) is a man on a mission,” said coach Will Herlihy. “Will put on a (show) to get his first win of the season.”
Ryan Blestowe (5:10.1) followed with a fifth-place finish for Marblehead, and Zack Pike (5:10.7, a nine-second personal best) came in sixth.
Boys 4×100
Jake Bobowski, Ryan Corrigan, Jack Burke and Slater Johnson (47.3) narrowly lost to the Peabody quartet (47.0.)
Girls 4×100
Cora Gerson, Paige Tredwell, Lidia Jasmine Tiedra and Lucy Flynn won this close relay as a result of Flynn holding off one of Peabody’s top sprinters down the stretch.
Boys 400
Eben Weed (61.0) led the way for Marblehead to account for a fourth-place finish. He was followed by Joseph Proulx (62.2, fifth) and James Pulido (62.9, sixth).
Girls 400
Ariella Kahn (67.8) was third, and Maggie Miller (71.7) came in fourth.
Girls 800
Freshman newcomer Evelina Beletsky (3:06.6) was the lone Marblehead runner, and she held her own for the first 600 meters against a more experienced Peabody squad, before ultimately finishing fourth.
Boys 800
“It didn’t take long for Will Cruikshank (2:08.4) to have a noticeable impact on the spring track team after making the decision to switch from baseball for the first time,” said Herlihy. “About 60% into the race, the whole pack was pretty close, but Cruikshank made a decisive move to break free, bringing Henrik Adams (2:07.2, a three-second personal best) with him. Henrik’s top speed helped him to secure the win, with Cruikshank finishing second.”
Veteran leader Xavier Grazado (2:14.3) came in a close fourth.
Girls 200
Halpern sprinted to a 27.3 win, nearly matching her best time from one year ago, despite the headwind. Cora Gerson (29.5) finished third, and Flynn (30.4) was sixth.
Boys 200
Carlson (23.1) swept the short sprints with a victory here in the 200. Jack Burke (26.1) finished fifth, and Slater Johnson (26.5) sixth.
Boys 4×400
Pulido, Johnson, Pike and Potach came out on top, despite competing in at least a couple of events already.
