The annual NEC (Northeastern Conference) spring track championship meet took place at Danvers High School on May 18. Both Marblehead boys and girls teams finished second. The final girls standings are as follows: Masconomet (160 points), Marblehead (118), Peabody (100), Beverly (39), Swampscott (38), Gloucester (33), Danvers (23), Saugus (14), Winthrop (2) and Salem (0). Peabody (166) won going away among the boys, followed by Marblehead (82), Beverly (65.33), Danvers (58.33), Masconomet (56.33), Gloucester (46), Winthrop (36), Swampscott (16), Saugus (1) and Salem (0).
Girls discus
Rachael Albert threw 106-8 to account for a third-place finish at the NEC Meet.
“While her personal best on the season is 112-5, Rachael’s second best was 105-9, so clearing 106-0 on three of her six attempts made this an outstanding set of throws, and it points to a level of consistency I’ve yet to see from her,” throwing coach Danny Plunkett said.
Hannah O’Brien (78-9) came in seventh. Lillian Reddy (59-10) placed among the Top 20 in 20 th place.
Boys discus
Angelo Knight delivered a shocker for the second meet in a row, according to Plunkett.
“Coming off a 12.5-foot personal best, Angelo outdid himself again by another 9.5-feet. He ended up throwing 115-5, all with a standing throw. He was seeded 16th , but ended up making the finals to place seventh overall,” added the coach. “He also qualified for the Division 3 state meet to top it all off.”
Graham Firestone (105-9) finished 11th . Freshman Logan McRae-Hughes (105-5, personal best) broke 100-feet not once, but twice to finish right behind Firestone in 12th place. Tucker Crane (97-10) rounded out the Marblehead throwers in 15th place.
Girls shot put
Albert (31-7) came in fourth. Reddy (28-1) was seventh. O’Brien (25-0, nine-inch personal best) jumped up to an 11th place finish after being seeded 21st going into the conference meet.
Boys shot put
Colin Hart (33-5-5) finished exactly as seeded in 23rd place.
Girls javelin
Albert (78-8) came in eighth. Sierra Leinberry (75-8) was 13th , finishing a few feet short of her best, but she did throw over 70-0 on all three throws for the first time. Freshman Julia Betz (49-3) accounted for 22nd place.
Boys javelin
Knight (108-2) finished a solid 15th. Firestone ended his own javelin season by fouling on all three of his attempts, an unfortunate result, but somehow fitting for him, whose all-or-nothing style means he could have just as easily fouled or personal best on any given throw, according to Plunkett.
Going the distance
“Our distance squad absolutely brought it at the NEC championship meet,” said coach Will Herlihy. “Fifteen out of our 20 runners had personal bests in at least one event. Of the 17 events in outdoor track, there are only four distance events — two-mile, mile, 800 and 4×800 relay. The girls distance squad scored 38 of the team’s 118 points, with Marri (O’Connell) accounting for 22.5 of those points. The boys distance squad also scored 38 points of the team’s 82 points. Our training program is designed to have runners peaking specifically for these championship meets, and that asks athletes to have a lot of patience if the results aren’t coming through in the regular season. This group was patient and worked tirelessly all season. I hope they’re proud of their results, I know I am.”
Boys two-mile
Senior Isaac Gross (9:26.20, first), Nate Assa 9:30, second), Jonah Potach 10:32.21, seventh), Will Cronin (10:34.17, eighth) and Zach Pike (11:20.96, 15th) were the Marblehead competitors in this event.
Girls two-mile
O’Connell (11:59.64) went to the head of the NEC class once again with a first-place finish, followed by freshman teammate Jesslyn Roemer (12:50.65, eighth), senior captain Cat Piper (13:14.88, 10th ) and sophomore Emma St. George (15:39.98, 17th ).
Girls mile
O’Connell (5:18.23) recorded another first place finish. Maren Potter (6:14.90, 15th ), Shannon Hitscherich (6:17.13, 16th ), Evelina Beletsky (6:31.16, 20th ) and Thea Shaw (6:46.90, 21st) completed the field of Marblehead milers.
Boys mile
Junior Will Cerrutti (4:26.18) broke the tape first, as the only Marblehead boys runner in this event.
Boys 800
Sophomore Henrik Adams (2:04.30, fifth), Will Cruikshank (2:07.86, ninth), Ryan Blestowe (2:14.92,14th) and Peter Sullivan (2:18.99, 17th) ran well to end up in the Top 20.
Girls 800
Senior Kate Twomey (2:27.16) broke Masco’s stranglehold on the top spots with a second-place finish.
Girls 4×800
O’Connell, Potter, freshman Maggie Miller and Twomey (10:28.27) topped the ticket to finish first.
Boys 4×800
Gross, Cerrutti, Cruikshank and Adams (8:32.97) teamed up to finish second behind host Danvers that ended up establishing a conference meet record (8:16).
Girls 100
Sadie Halpern (13.08) finished second. Ava Machado (13.36) came in third. Lucy Flynn (13.74, personal best) was eighth.
Boys 100
Thomas Carlson (11.11) defended his title with another win in a conference meet.
“Tommy won the 55-meters during the indoor conference meet this past winter,” said head coach Nolan Raimo. “With a steady head wind slowing the field, Tommy battled down the stretch to win the title, while Jacob Bobowski continues to impress this spring with a fourth-place finish. Bobowski was battling illness during the week, but he’s a fighter, and so there was no surprise that he showed up and competed.”
Ryan Corrigan (12.13) was able to finish in the Top 10 in 10th place.
Girls 200
Halpern (27.29) was credited with a second-place finish.
“Sadie has been consistent and successful this spring in both short sprints (100 and 200),” said Raimo.
Machado (27.78) was fifth. Manuela Puente (28.79), battling a heel injury, came in 13th, followed by Cora Gerson (29.03, 15th), Lidia Jasmine Tiedra (29.92, 21st) and Lilah Greten (30.56, 25th).
Boys 200
Carlson (23.11) finished third in one of the fastest 200 in conference history. Bobowski (24.22, eighth), Ralph Pierre (25.18, personal best, 21st), Ethan Horgan (25.49, 23rd), Slater Johnson (25.60, 26th), Isaias Aguasvivas Pena (26.18, 30th) and Owen Newburg (26.30, 32nd) also participated in this event for the Magicians.
“To have seven runners in the Top 32 was an achievement as a team, and with all, but two
returning next year we will look forward to scoring a lot of points in this event next year,” said Raimo.
Girls 400
Charlie Roszell (62.48, personal best) finished third in a competitive field. Gabby Hendy ran a season best time of 65.60 to finish 12th. Olivia Vanden Heuvel (68.87, 17th) and Ariella Kahn finished (69.39, 19th) to round out the Marblehead runners.
Boys 400
Xavier Grazado (57.95) stepped down from the 800, while he fought off an illness to compete in the 400. He finished 15th overall in the NEC Meet.
“While this wasn’t an ideal time for Xavier, he has contributed so much to the track and field and cross-country programs over the past four years. He was a captain this season, but he has always been a steadfast, trustworthy leader throughout his entire career,” said Raimo.
Girls 100-meter hurdles
Paige Tredwell (16.16) won the NEC championship with a new personal best time, while nearing the 16-second barrier. Elise Burchfield (17.22) was next in line in second place. Freshman Arianna Leahy (19.35) ended up 10th.
Boys 100-meter hurdles
In their final NEC Championship Meet, Alex Hersey (14.93) won the crown over Leo Sheriff of Beverly.
“It was one of the best personal rivalries in recent NEC history. Both are top hurdlers in the state and region, and they’ve helped each other grow tremendously over their high school careers. Alex was just .05 seconds from the meet record, despite the less-than-ideal conditions,” said Raimo.
Noah Jackson (17.41, personal best, sixth), the freshman hurdling sensation, broke into the finals with a 17.99 preliminary time. Elian Colon (19.00, ninth) had a breakout season, before narrowly missing the finals in the conference meet. Quinn Scheib (20.88, personal best) came in 17th, just ahead of Nate Jendrysik (20.90, 18th).
Girls long jump
Tredwell accounted for a fourth-place finish, just missing first by 2.25-inches.
“Paige was the leading scorer for Marblehead in the NEC Meet with 24 points, and she had a chance for more if she had finished first in all three of her events.” Elise Burchfield (15-10.5, sixth) and Halpern (15-8.5, eighth) also competed, just missing the finals.
Boys long jump
Hersey (21-3) finished fourth.
“Alex claimed the indoor NEC long jump title this past winter with a meet record of 21-7, and he also jumped well in this highly competitive contest,” said Raimo.
Corrigan (18-7, 12th) and Newburg (18-5, personal best, 14th) also participated in this event for the locals.
Boys triple jump
Firestone (35-9, 11th) and Claudio Gusmao Gonzalez (32-3.5, 20th) were the Marblehead jumpers here in this event.
Girls high jump
Tredwell (5-0) took home the conference championship.
“Paige is now a four-time conference champion in the high jump and 55/100-meter hurdles throughout her first track season, an incredible feat,” said Raimo.
Sophomore Greta Sachs (4-10), also in her first track season, was fifth. Elise Burchfield (4-8) finished seventh.
Boys high jump
Alex Humphreys (5-4) led the way for Marblehead with a new personal best to finish ninth overall. Hart (5-0, 11th) and Pierre (5-0, 14th) also took part in the event for the Magicians.
Girls 4×100
Arianna Leahy, Puente, Tiedra and Flynn (53.33) finished sixth.
Boys 4×100
Bobowski, Carlson, Corrigan and Hersey (44.43) squared up against Peabody in an electric race, according to Raimo. Peabody (44.31) won the race, with Marblehead close behind in second place.
Girls 4×400
Machado, Juliet Burchfield, Hendy and Grace Mortenson (4:31.5) accounted for a fourth-place finish.
Boys 4×400
James Pulido, Colon, Jack Franklin and Johnson (4:00.23) ended up sixth.
