The Marblehead High boys and girls indoor track teams began the new season and the Christmas break at the same time in the proper frame of mind with two wins over Beverly and Gloucester in this tri-meet at Beverly.
The boys defeated Beverly, 45.5-40.5, and in the Gloucester meet, it was much more decisive, 57-29. On the girls’ side, the Magicians were in control of Beverly, 51-35, and even more so against Gloucester, 59-27.
Girls high jump
Lucy Flynn and Maggie Miller stepped up to finish second and third, and will continue to play an important role in this event for the team throughout the rest of the season, according to coach Nolan Raimo.
Boys high jump
Clark Roszell came out on top after casually soaring over the bar at 6-4, which is currently the top mark in the state for a sophomore. Owen Coyne (5-10) ended up third. Ethan Harwood (5-6) and captain Colin Burke (5-4) were fifth and sixth, respectively.
Girls shot put
Lillian Reddy (29-9.75) won going away. Naomi Goodwin (22-0.5, sixth), Julia Betz (20-9.25, eight) and Sarah Heenan (18-3.75, 10th) rounded out the Marblehead field.
Boys shot put
Graham Firestone (40-4.5) broke the 40-foot barrier for the first time in his career to take home second place. Logan McRae-Hughes (38-7.5) and Alex Humphreys (35-1) were fourth and fifth in that order.
Girls two-mile
Sophomore Ruby Assa (12:42) and junior captain Maggie Miller (14:34.6) topped the ticket.
Boys two-mile
Senior captain Zach Pike (10:53.4, personal best) and freshman Owen Meunier (14:09) were second and fourth against Beverly, but were the top two runners in the Gloucester portion of the meet.
Girls mile
Marblehead had three freshmen running, and they all showed the same grit and guts that was on display during the cross-country season. Nadia Siragusa (6:21.2), Sophia Letwin (6:23.5) and Ginny Donato (6:35.3) swept Gloucester, while ending up third through fifth against Beverly.
Boys mile
Sophomore Victor Pechhold (5:24.3, personal best) and junior Felix Regnault (5:41.3) ended up second and fourth against the Panthers, but were third and fourth in the Gloucester portion of the meet.
Girls 1,000
Senior captain Marri O’Connell (3:11.7) once again came out on top. Freshman Elisabeth Greely finished third in the Beverly meet, and was fourth against Gloucester. Maddie Gelb (4:52.4) came in sixth overall.
Boys 1,000
Senior captain Henrik Adams (2:48.7) bested the competition. Junior Filip Grubor (2:55.9) and freshman Isaac Durand (3:07.4) had top four performances against both conference rivals.
Girls 600
Junior captain Sarah Munroe (1:47.8) went wire to wire to come away with a win, while staying just ahead of her Beverly counterpart. Sophomore Norah Walsh (1:51.7, personal best) was second. Sophomore Evie Becker (2:01.4) also recorded a solid time.
Boys 600
All three Marblehead runners were novices in this event, led by junior Max Karlyn (1:.45.2), who finished second. Senior captain Cole Barbeau (1:53.4) followed close behind in third place against Gloucester. Freshman Beckett Foley (1:57.4) finished fourth.
Girls 300
Zoe Dwyer (45.7) ended up second, which on a flat, 150-meter Beverly track is quite an accomplishment, according to Raimo. Liv Carlson (49.5) was fifth, and Julia Thomson (50.0) seventh.
Boys 300
Eben Weed (38.8) ran away from the field to secure the win. Slater Johnson (40.0) was close behind in second. Grady Becker (42.6) continued to make progress in his rookie track season with a seventh-place finish.
Girls 50-yard dash
“In an unconventional race due to the size of the Beverly gym, we competed in this 50-yard dash, rather than running our usual dash,” said Raimo.
Flynn (6.2) came out on top. Cora Gerson (6.8) was fifth, and Charlotte Hodgkinson (7.0) seventh.
Boys 55-meter dash
Nate Selby (5.7) tied for first, and that time converts to around a 4.7 40-yard dash, because of the small Beverly dimensions, according to Raimo. Coyne (5.9) tied for third. Harwood (6.4) came in eighth.
Girls 50-yard hurdles
Unlike the traditional 55-meter hurdles that has five hurdles, this one had four at Beverly, where Faith Apostolopoulos (9.3) secured third place. Rookie Charlotte Greten (9.8) continues to impress with an eighth-place finish. Addison Rotigliano (10.0) was ninth.
Boys 50-yard hurdles
Firestone first won the shot put, and then doubled back to take fifth to secure an important point for the team in his backup event. Sophomore Theo Benning (9.2) found a good tempo to come in seventh. Alex Murray (10.8) was ninth.
Girls 4×400
Flynn, Munroe, Walsh and O’Connell (4:36) was credited with the win in a meet that was still undecided at the time, “because the boys high jump took two hours, and the girls high jump hadn’t even gotten underway, so this group with ample experience at the state level had to beat a solid Beverly foursome to seal the victory,” said Raimo.
Boys 4×400
Selby, Weed, Adams and Johnson (4:01) cruised to victory. “It was the second or third event for these runners, and even on tired legs they put together a great performance to win this relay,” said Raimo. “It’s difficult to run 400-meters on a 150-meter flat track, where you don’t necessarily know where the handoff is going to be. The turns are also sharp, but, despite all of that, we didn’t flinch.”
