Spring track teams take on rival Danvers

Boys settle for rare tie; girls ground the Falcons

BY JOE McCONNELL

The Marblehead High boys spring track team (2-1-1) had the unlikeliest of results when they ended up tied with host Danvers, 68-68, on April 26, while the Marblehead girls (3-1) easily took care of the Falcons, 98-33.

Girls long jump

Despite the poor conditions, Charlie Roszell leaped to victory with a new personal best of 15-10.5. Claire Davis (15-6) was second, Elise Burchfield (15-5) third and Sadie Halpern (13-9.5) fourth.

“The pit was seemingly an upslope due to jumpers pushing the sand back and then not being raked properly,” said coach Nolan Raimo. “So for Charlie, Claire and Elise to jump mid-to-high 15s is very impressive.”

Boys long jump

Alex Hersey (19-8) took first, Harrison Curtis (186) finished third, Colin Hart (16-8.25) was fifth and Claudio Gusmao Gonzalez (16-7) seventh.

“Similar to the girl jumpers, the pit conditions were not ideal, but we still had a few quality jumps,” Raimo said.

Girls triple jump

Jumping into a headwind, Keira Sweetnam (314.5) captured first. She was followed by Claire Davis (second, 30-9), Ava Machado (third, 30-6.5) and Kate Twomey (fifth, 28-4.5).

“This was Claire’s second career triple jump, and it was remarkably successful,” Raimo said.

Boys triple jump enjoyed personal bests in the shot put, javelin and 100,” said Raimo.

Errol Apostolopoulos (37-2) finished third after enduring the trek across the football field between his triple and high jumps. Gusmao Gonzalez (336.5) placed fifth and Seth Cushinsky (28-3) sixth.

Girls discus

Rachael Albert (103-11, personal best) finished second while also qualifying for the All-State Meet. But Cali Abbatessa (105-7) won the event. O’Brien (86-6, personal best) was third. Siena Day (59-9) ended up fourth.

Boys discus Angelo Knight (86-5) continues to improve every week, and against Danvers he was third. Tucker Crane (66-1) came in fifth, and Grady Norfleet (58-7) sixth.

Girls javelin Albert was a double winner in the throws against Danvers with a 77-1 in the javelin after beating peers in the discus. Sierra Leinberry (second, 72-8) and Adelyn Cruickshank (third, 61-2) completed the sweep. Devin Whalen (577) was fourth.

Boys javelin Oren (106-7, personal best) won the event. Phineas Jakious (100-6) finished third, followed by Knight (92-9) fourth and Colin Hart (85-9) fifth.

Girls 400-meter hurdles

Whalen (74.27) took home the victory for her teammates.

Boys 400-meter hurdles tiebreaker).

Apostolopoulos (63.3) finished first. Marc Grazado (69.42) slipped below the 70-second barrier to come in fourth. Elian Colon (78.84), making his debut, was sixth overall.

Girls 2-mile Cat Piper (13:14.75) turned in a tremendous race to finish second.

“The second set was a nailbiter that included a marathon tiebreaker, but Etan set up Jayden well at the net in some first-rate doubles play to come out on top,” Foukal said.

Senior co-captain Jimmy King and sophomore Luke Miller lost to Keenan Maguire and Rory Taylor in second doubles, 7-5, 6-4.

“Jimmy and Luke are improving in every match, and this was a really close one,” the Marblehead coach said.

In sub-varsity play, senior co-captain Jack Wykes and sophomore Austin Bacon lost to Ben Gasser and Alex Boardman, 8-1. Sophomore Ben Zaltsman lost to Jadar Wang in a singles match, 6-0.

The JV team, under the direction of Priscilla Danforth, also defeated the Generals at Seaside Park by a close 3-2 score. Both sides agreed to play four doubles matches and one singles match in an eight-game pro set.

Luke Roth and Quinn Sullivan won their doubles set, 8-4. Nico Altonian and Evan Murtagh lost, 8-6. Graydon Waller and T.J. Kelly secured an 8-6 triumph. Connor Dunleavy and Travis Erhardt dominated their doubles opponents,

8-2. Jeffery Kucharsky lost his singles match, 8-6.

The Marblehead boys then prevailed over a well-coached Masco team, 4-1, in a match that did not end until twilight hovered over the Boxford courts on April 28.

Garber beat senior Mark Trull, 6-1, 6-0 in first singles. Eggebrecht topped Kyle Trull, 6-2, 6-1 in second singles. Sherf maintained a similar winning script in third singles against senior Steven Ralph, 6-2, 6-3.

Farfel and Janock continued their undefeated streak against conference foes in first doubles, defeating Jack Eaton and Justin Salinger, 6-3, 6-0.

Sophomores Quinn Fletcher and Austin Bacon teamed up for the first time in a second doubles varsity match, only to lose a close encounter to senior Jason Kaias and freshman Kai Hird, 6-3, 6-1.

“Quinn and Austin are gaining valuable experience by facing some good opponents with a large cheering club,” Foukal said.

In sub-varsity play, Anthony Vizy and Luke Miller lost, 7-6 (7-4). But senior co-captains King and Wykes won their doubles match, 6-2. Sophomores Leo Winocour and Ben Zaltsman did the same, 6-1.

Girls high jump

Sweetnam (5-2) continued her excellent season to secure the win. Burchfield (4-6) was second, and Campbell Crane and Machado (4-4) tied for fourth.

Girls shot put Hannah O’Brien, the lone Marblehead competitor in this event, ended up third with a throw of 21-3, improving by over a foot since her last meet.

“Although Hannah’s focus is on the discus, her selflessness to compete in this event just to score points for the team is appreciated by all,” said Raimo.

Boys shot put Hersey (36-7) was fourth. Asher Oren (32-5, personal best) was right behind him in fifth place. Grady Norfleet (24-5.5) came in seventh.

“This was Asher’s breakout meet, where he

Boys 2-mile Harrison Kee (9:57.75, personal best) took first, and Isaac Gross (9:59.41) was second.

Girls 100/110meter hurdles

Whalen (16.41) came out on top, and she was followed by Davis (second, 16.95, personal best) and Burchfield (third, 18.33).

Boys 100/110meter hurdles

Hersey (16:36, personal best) remains undefeated in the high hurdles this season. Apostolopoulos (17:54) was second. Marc Grazado (19:51) sneaked under the 20-second mark to finish fourth.

Girls 100 Cate Trautman finished first with a time of 13.10, narrowly missing her personal best of 13.08. Machado (13:24) was second. Le’Daisha Williams (13:39) came in third. Sadie Halpern ran an impressive 13.28 in the JV heat.