Swimmers remain undefeated

BY JOE MCCONNELL

The Marblehead High boys and girls swim and dive team (6-0) traveled to the Cape Ann YMCA for a meet versus Gloucester on Jan. 17 and won again, 85-75. Two days later, they defeated Salem at the Lynch-vanOtterloo YMCA, 87-51.

“While there were no super-fast times — probably because of the late start time at Gloucester — a few swimmers were still credited with personal best times,” said coach Sue Guertin.

These include Sophia Weiner (100-yard freestyle, 57.71, state cut), Monica Pechhold (100yard freestyle, 1:05.10) and Cale Nelson (500yard freestyle, 5:18.03, state cut).

In the meet against visiting Salem, Jack Brady, Nelson, Cole Brooks and Logan Doody (1:49.60, state cut) teamed up to come out on top in the

200-yard medley relay. Ian Chemel, Greg Podstrelov, Gary Podstrelov and Nate Rosen (1:54.42) ended up second.

Brooks (1:49.65, state cut), Song Waitekus (2:08.88, sectional cut) and Monica Pechhold (2:25.40) swept the 200yard freestyle. Doody (2:12.51, sectional cut), Will Cerrutti (2:16.78) and Finn Bergquist (2:24.67, sectional cut) did the same in the 200 IM.

Memorial. He is 25-5 so far this year.

Sophomore Mason Hinshaw of Swampscott (21-4), a transfer student from San Antonio, Texas, was the Gionet champion in his weight group after coming in third in the Lisitano Memorial.

“He’s a quiet kid but may be one of the more talented guys on the team this year,” Stamison said. Junior captain Angelo Knight of Marblehead was injured to start the season but did finish fourth in Pentucket and third in the Gionet Memorial.

“(Knight) was named the team’s second captain for the Bridgewater-Raynham quad meet on Jan. 7 as a result of his contributions on the mat but more importantly in the practice room,” Stamison said. “He is a good wrestler but a better kid and teammate.”

Stamison shares thoughts on seniors

Zach Perlman, Marblehead “Marblehead senior

Zach Perlman is a firstyear wrestler. He is a calm teammate, who sadly had his season cut short by injury. I truly wish we had more time together with him, because I think if we could’ve had him all four seasons, he would have been a dangerous wrestler.”

Miles DeRiggi, Marblehead “Similar to Zach, Miles is calm and quiet. He filled in admirably early on this season at 220. As a first-year wrestler, that’s no easy task. I truly wish he had also decided to come out as a freshman with Perlman, because they would have been great teammates. But nonetheless, thanks for trying something new. This is truly the most difficult of sports, and I admire the character he has by sticking with it.

“Both Perlman and DeRiggi are coachable young men, and that will take them a long way in life.”

Mark Babineau, Marblehead

“Mark has been on the team since his freshman season and is the team’s longest tenured member, along with Swampscott senior captain Tarason. He has been a good soldier for us ever since. He is 5-11 to date this year and took sixth place at Wakefield. He has also been steady in the practice room while battling injuries year in and year out. He is my favorite scorekeeper.

He was injured early on in the weird spring COVID season and is the only team member that seemingly knows how to hold a pencil. Thanks, Mark, for four years of service to our team.”

Roni Snitkovsky, Swampscott

“Roni is new to the team and sport this season and has won a few exhibitions for us. He’s a good drilling partner and teammate, and I wish we had more time together with him. Roni is the team’s Uber driver, taking his teammates over to practices at Marblehead High School every day.”

Drew Roddie, Swampscott

“Similar to Roni, Drew is brand new to the sport and has taken to it quickly. He narrowly missed out on medaling at the Wakefield and Pentucket tournaments, going 2-2 in each. He is 6-10 on the season and is a good drilling partner and teammate. Drew takes to coaching well and is only improving.”

A.J. Kluge, Swampscott

“The quiet A.J. has been a fixture in our lineup since joining us in the spring COVID season. He has been durable, supportive and a valued teammate. He’s taken his lumps but has never begged out of a match and has always come back. All summer, he worked with us at the YMCA to get better, and he certainly has improved. We appreciate his effort and sacrifice for the last three seasons.”

Nicolai Tarason, Swampscott, captain

“A four-year starter for us, he has a 39-18 record the last two seasons. This season, he has won the Wakefield Tournament, placed fifth at Pentucket and was third at Pelham. He’s been a constant presence who’s also durable and honestly one of the best captains we have ever had.

“Fun fact: Until he was appointed captain this season, I had no idea he had a Boston accent. It just goes to show how he led by example during his first few seasons, and then when thrust into a leadership role he has been vocal and passionate. He has been a big part of our recent team success in the 138-to-160-pound category. He wrestled in our first-ever outdoor match at Piper Field in the spring COVID season, and he pinned his opponent from Triton in our first-ever win over them last season. He has placed in numerous tournaments. Thank you, Nicolai, for four great seasons.”

Girls mile

The Magicians swept Saugus and were first, second and fourth against the Tanners.

Maren Potter (6:04.25, 13 seconds, personal best) ran even splits of 3:02 to finish first in her best race of the season and young career, according to coach William Herlihy.

“She has been on a mission this year to run a sub-6:15, but now she has her sights set on a sub-6:00. It was an all-around excellent performance by Maren,” he added.

Ada Merrigan (6:24.84) and Piper Morgan (6:46.88) rounded out the Marblehead runners in the mile.

Boys mile Will Cruikshank, Nate Assa and Ryan Blestowe also swept Saugus and were third, fourth and fifth versus Peabody.

“All three boys ran personal bests in this race, and all three came tantalizingly close to their goal of breaking the five-minute mark,” said Herlihy.

Cruikshank (5:00.5, threesecond personal best) and Assa (5:00.13, three-second personal best) came about as close as they possibly could, while Blestowe (5:02.82, three-second personal best) was hot on their heels.

“I expect all three of these guys to use this as motivation at the NEC Championship Meet on Feb. 4 to achieve their goal,” said Herlihy.

Boys 300 Sebastian Pantzer and Harrison Curtis took home the top two spots in the overall meet with huge personal bests of 37.73 and 38.00, respectively.

Jack Burke finished 17th overall with a time of 41.57, a personal best by one minute.

“In general, long sprinters struggle early in the season due to the lactic acid thresholds they have to endure, but these personal bests are a general indication that these folks are peaking at the right time of the season,” said Raimo. “I’m very excited to see what these boys and girls can do in the postseason.”

Girls 300

Cate Trautman and La’Daisha Williams cruised to the top overall with times of 44.02 (onesecond personal best) and 44.66 (two-second personal best), respectively.

Close behind was Cora Gerson, who finished fourth overall with a time of 45.97 (2.2-second personal best).

“Cate completes the regular season undefeated, while Le’Daisha and Cora both ran incredible races,” said Raimo.

Girls 600

This Marblehead trio swept both Peabody and Saugus.

“Juliet Burchfield (1:52.74, onesecond personal best) had the fastest opening lap of anyone in the field and held on to run another personal best,” said Herlihy.

Newcomer Isabelle Mortensen (1:56.31) ran one of the best 600 times this season while making her debut.

“It was very impressive in a difficult race,” Herlihy said.

Sienna Velandry (2:02.93) also had an impressive time in her 600 debut, holding off a Peabody runner to secure the sweep.

Boys 600

These Magicians ended up fourth, fifth and sixth against Peabody, and first, second and fourth versus Saugus.

Xavier Grazado (1:35.56, fivesecond personal best) had his best race of the season with a big personal best, according to Herlihy.

Henrik Adams (1:40.2) showed consistency, running a time slightly faster than his previous race.

Sean Heenan (1:53.63) was the final Marblehead runner to cross the finish line.

Girls 1,000 Maya Mahoney (3:37.04) was the first Marblehead runner to cross the line, accounting for a second-place finish against Peabody, but was No. 1 versus Saugus.

“Her continued improvement from week to week has been awesome to watch, and her best race is still to come,” said Herlihy.

Savannah Caruso (4:01.48) returned to a more familiar event this week and picked up some big points in both meets, according to Herlihy. She was second against Peabody and third versus Saugus.

Boys 1,000 Ryan Thompson (2:38.62, eight-second personal best) had a plan and executed it to perfection, despite being all alone for the majority of the race to come out on top.

“To take eight seconds off his best time at that level is a testament to Ryan’s work ethic at practice and discipline in races,” Herlihy said.

Gabe Bayramian (2:52.12) had his best race of the season, setting himself up well for a big race in the top heat at the NEC Meet.

Nicolas Regnault (3:08.92) once again showed consistency, demonstrating that his big personal best from the previous meet was no fluke, Herlihy added.

Girls two-mile

Cat Piper (13:26.39) took another step toward her personal best in the two-mile.

Angie Fischer (14:08.71, 22-second personal best) had a great race running her best time to date, according to Herlihy, adding that Anne Simcoe (14:28.61) had another great race.

Boys two-mile

Isaac Gross (9:49.45, eightsecond personal best) had what might have been the race of the day to finish first.

His finishing time was incredibly impressive, best highlighted by the fact that Gross’ opening mile (4:48) was the second fastest mile run by only four-hundreds of a second.

Jonah Potach (11:48.89) and Will Cronin (12:26.57) ended up second and third against both opponents.

Boys long jump

Alex Hersey (18-9, second), Sebby Pantzer (18-1.75, third), Thomas Carlson (17-1.25, fourth) and Errol Apostolopoulos (170.25, sixth) all finished near the top.

“It’s incredible what these boys were able to do, because they are unable to learn the event in practice,” Raimo said. “Alex’s jump likely had another few inches in it if his hand didn’t touch down early.”

Girls long jump

Claire Davis (15-2.5), Charlie Roszell (14-10.5), Elise Burchfield (14-2) and Sadie Halpern (13-10) finished first, second, fourth and fifth, respectively.

“Coach Veloukas was running back and forth between the boys runway and girls runway to help all these athletes succeed,” said Raimo. “Sadie Halpern had quite the day, and to jump 13-10 without ever jumping before is another impressive note on her freshman season.”

Boys high jump

Apostolopoulos and Graham Tips were sixth and seventh overall with jumps of 5-2.

“Errol had an incredible day considering he’d been fighting off an illness, and still he competed in the 55-meter hurdles, long jump and high jump,” Raimo said. “Graham continues to work on a consistent approach, and his leap of 5-4 this year is one of the best freshman jumps in recent memory.”

Girls high jump

Keira Sweetnam has struggled to reach 5-2 the past few meets, and she decided that 5-3 was more fitting, according to Raimo.

Sweetnam cleared 5-3 on a single jump, which qualifies her for the New Balance Nationals.

Currently, Sweetnam is No. 50 in the nation in the high jump. But unfortunately for her, the school record is 5-8, which is arguably MHS’ most untouchable mark.

For context, 5-8 would have been the third best jump in the entire country right now.

Elise Burchfield and Campbell Crane cleared 4-6 to finish sixth and ninth overall. Ava Machado finished 11th overall after clearing 4-4.

Boys shot put Riley Schmitt finished second in the dual meet and 13th overall with a throw of 35-5.5.

“Riley is returning from an injury, and even with two fouls it was a step in the right direction,” said Raimo.

Alex Hersey was hurried to fit his three throws in after coming over from the hurdles, but he was still able to secure a third in the dual meet and was 19th overall with a throw of 32-0.

Girls shot put Rachael Albert was second in the dual meet and sixth overall with a personal-best throw of 28-3.

“Rachael has been working diligently on her spin, which is an advanced technique that takes years to master, but she was

Marblehead boys indoor track senior captain Sebastian Pantzer runs around the Track at New Balance complex in Brighton during a tri-meet against Peabody and Saugus on Jan. 22. COURTESY PHOTOS/ CAT PIPER able to find success after only a couple of weeks of spinning,” said Raimo.

Lillian Reddy continued her impressive freshman campaign with a throw of 26-10.5.

Hannah O’Brien had a fantastic day after throwing 22-10 for a three-foot improvement from the first New Balance meet six weeks ago, Raimo noted.

Boys 4x200

Harrison Curtis, Sebastian Pantzer, Thomas Carlson and Ryan Thomas brought home the victory in impressive fashion with a time of 1:35.27, which is just 1.27 seconds shy of qualifying for the New Balance National Meet.

“Typically, the 4-by-200 takes two or three meets to produce near 1:35 times, but this group was focused, and they executed the handoffs well,” said Raimo. Girls 4x200 Cate Trautman, Ava Machado, Devin Whalen and Claire Davis ran away from the opposition in this meet with a time of 1:49.74 while topping their personal best mark from last season (1:49.77). This qualifies them for nationals. This group ran a 1:52.14 in its first 4-by-200 last season, so a 1:49.74 without competition bodes well for the postseason.

Boys 4x400

Jack Burke, Graham Tips, Marc Grazado and Will Cruikshank put together a solid time of 3:59.37. Their respective splits were 60.07, 59.84, 60.69 and 58.79.

Girls 4 by 400 Sadie Halpern, Charlie Roszell, Juliet Burchfield and Le’Daisha Williams ran a superb best time of 4:22.72, topping their best time last year of 4:25.

Sadie Halpern opened with a 63.82, followed by Charlie (63.62), Juliet (70.05) and Le’Daisha (65.24).

“For reference, the time 4:18 went to the All-State Championships last year, which is a testament to these girls running their first race together this year as a unit,” said Raimo. “Juliet had a very quick turnaround from the 600 to the 4-by-400, and she battled the whole way.”