Girls tennis winds down regular season

BY JOE MCCONNELL

The Marblehead High girls tennis team (11-1 in the Northeastern Conference, 12-4 overall) began a brand new week with a shutout against Peabody, 5-0, on May 15.

“Though we won 5-0, the Peabody players show positive signs of growing into a strong program,” said coach Tracy Ackerman. “Their number of participants have increased since last year. It is impressive to see the growth of the players from one year to the next.”

Ackerman added, “But we have a very challenging remainder of our own season, with matches against Masco, and two nonleague (encounters) against Lynnfield and HamiltonWenham, which should prepare us for the upcoming state tournament.”

First singles player Pauline Geissler defeated her Peabody counterpart, 6-0, 6-1. Andrea Potvin prevailed in second singles, 6-4, 6-4. Charly Cooper shut down her third singles opponent, 6-0, 6-0.

The first doubles team of Courtney Yoder and Aviva Bornstein won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0. Aoife Bresnahan and Lucia Levin completed the sweep in second doubles, 6-2, 6-1.

Two days later, the Marblehead girls took on state powerhouse and NEC rival Masco, and the Chieftains ended up rolling over the home team to the tune of 5-0.

“Masco showed why they are the defending state champions,” said Ackerman. “Their singles players plowed through Marblehead without dropping a single game.”

The veteran Marblehead coach added, “Hats off to Masco. They still have very talented players, all of whom have returned from last year. We wish them the best of luck in defending the state title. Their girls displayed tremendous sportsmanship.

There’s always great camaraderie between the two teams, and my team had some takeaways from this match, which will hopefully serve us well in the postseason.” up with four goals and one assist against the Vikings.

Geissler, Potvin and Cooper all lost their singles matches by identical 6-0, 6-0 scores. Yoder and Bornstein played a competitive first doubles match before losing, 2-6, 3-6.

“Courtney and Aviva got their Masco counterparts off balance by playing different formations that we have been practicing,” said Ackerman.

Bresnahan and Levin then lost to a super strong Masco team in second doubles, 1-6, 1-6.

The Magicians defeated Salem, 5-0, on May 20 to close out the week before wrapping up the regular season against Lynnfield (May 22) and Hamilton-Wenham (May 23) after press deadline. The postseason gets underway next week.

The Marblehead High girls lacrosse team (6-7 in the Northeastern Conference, 2-6 in Dunn Division, 6-11 overall) edged Masco in a high-scoring comeback effort, 9-8, on May 17. The Chieftains were on top at the half, 8-5.

The Dunn Division consists of Beverly, Danvers, Masco, Peabody and Marblehead.

Lucy Wales (one goal, one ground ball, one interception), Ramona Gillett (one goal, one assist), Sydney Langton (six goals, one interception, one ground ball) and Maddie Forbes (one goal) stood out for the Magicians against the rival Chieftains. Goalie Kate Santesanio made 10 saves to help secure this close win for her teammates.

The Marblehead girls then defeated host Winthrop the next day, 18-8. They were also ahead at the half, 11-1.

Gillett (one goal, one ground ball), Forbes (two goals, two assists, one interception), Wales (three goals, two assists, one ground ball), Caitlyn Ryan (two goals), Caroline Scroope (one goal, two assists), Isabelle Ferrante (two goals), Neely Payne (one goal) and Tamia Johnson (one goal) also contributed to the win over Winthrop. Santesanio made eight saves to help prevent the Vikings from getting any closer in this contest.

The Magicians had one more regular season game left on the schedule against North Reading at home on Senior Day May 22 after press deadline. They are 16th in the latest May 19 Division 2 power rankings, with the Top 32 teams qualifying for the postseason that begins next week.

There was a special moment in this game when Langton scored her 100th career goal. She ended

Boys freshman mile

“People say that track isn’t a contact sport, but as Henrik Adams learned the hard way in this meet that isn’t always the case,” Herlihy said. “This event had 21 competitors in one heat, and through three laps of the race 15 to 20 of them were separated by only a couple of meters.”

Herlihy continued, “There was a lot of jostling and pushing for positioning, and late in the third lap Henrik got his foot caught up with another runner, and he fell. Not to be denied, Henrik bounced back up and surged past a pack of three runners before holding on to finish ninth with a time of 4:56.77. He raced like a warrior and, despite falling, still matched his best time at that distance.”

Girls 100/110-meter hurdles

Whalen ran a 16.61 in the prelims, which secured the eighth and last spot in the finals, where she went on to run a 16.54 to finish seventh, which is good for 36th in the state.

Claire Davis (17.25) ended up 14th and Elise Burchfield (17.70) 21st to round out the Marblehead participants in this event.

Boys 100/110-meter hurdles

Errol Apostolopoulos finished 21st in the state with a new electronic personal best time of

16.78.

“Errol, like in most of his meets, was competing throughout the whole day,” Herlihy said. “When he finished this event, he walked straight to the long jump pit to jump on tired legs, and right after that he finished up with the long jump. Errol is a savvy veteran at this point, but in the heat of the competition, it’s always impressive to see him navigate them so well.”

Girls 100

Ava Machado led the way for Marblehead with a two-tenthsof-a-second personal best to place fifth in the prelims at 12.78 and sixth in the finals with a 12.89. She took down an 11-year-old school record (12.85).

Le’Daisha Williams (13:05) finished 18th. Cate Trautman (13:10) was 19th.

Boys 100

Harrison Curtis was shot out of a cannon in the prelims to run an 11.09 right beside one of the top sprinters in the state. His time was 23rd in the state and is technically first in the school record books.

Joe Doherty’s 11.06 is currently in front, but with a 3.2 wind reading. A reading of 2.0 is the legal threshold for records.

“Curtis did not hesitate to let me know that he ran faster than my high school time,” said Raimo.

Thomas Carlson bounced back after a slight stumble in the 200 to run a very impressive 11.42 as a sophomore. Sebastian Pantzer (11.55) finished 22nd in the state.

Girls freshman 100

Sadie Halpern competed in

Girls lacrosse takes down Masco, Winthrop the freshman division, where she finished first in the prelims (12.97) and second in the finals (13.15).

“Sadie has battled blisters on both feet over the past couple of weeks, but yet she’s still able to run these remarkable times without any complaint because of her sheer will and determination,” said Raimo.

Girls 800

Kate Twomey continued her excellent season with another personal best in the 800. She finished ninth overall with a time of 2:24.19, a two-second personal best, which solidified her standing as one of the best 800 runners in the Northeastern Conference and Division 3. She’s also ranked 48th in the state.

Boys 800

Gabe Bayramian (2:03.99, four-second personal best) also had the best race of his career at this meet, finishing 18th. This time also qualifies him for the upcoming state meet.

“It’s simply a testament to the work he puts in at practice,” said Herlihy. “He had been hovering around 2:09 for a couple of weeks but was able to break through at this meet in a big way after running excellent splits between laps one and two before closing it down with a strong kick to stave off any competition.”

Girls 400

Gabby Hendy, who has only run the 400 for a couple of weeks, finished 21st with a time of 63.13.

“Gabby from day one of her freshman year has been a disciplined, hardworking runner, but after she was sidelined with an illness during the indoor season, she has since dominated spring track across all of the sprint events,” Raimo said. “Her 400 time of 63.13 is fourth in the school record books, while it’s also only her third time running an open 400.”

Boys 400 Ryan Thompson (52.57) led the way for Marblehead with a 13th-place finish.

“Ryan has been battling a knee injury since the Masco meet, but he still ran a great race considering the swelling and discomfort in the knee,” said Raimo.

David DiConstanzo finished 20th with a time of 53.45.

“David has had a great spring training-wise, and I think we will see this time drop quite a bit over the next couple of weeks,” said Raimo.

Girls discus

Hannah O’Brien finished 24th with a throw of 76-9.

“Hannah has seemingly cracked the code this season with a season-best throw of 86-foot plus, and I’m excited to see Hannah approach the 90-foot barrier at NEC Championship Meet or the Division 3 State Meet,” said Raimo.

Girls long jump

Davis finished 17th overall with a leap of 15-6.5. Elise Burchfield (14-10) was 24th.

Boys long jump

Apostolopoulos finished 26th with a jump of 19-5.

“Errol participated in the 400-meter hurdles but then was immediately required to jump before his flight closed,” said Raimo. “The hurdles sap everything out of the legs, and for Errol to jump 19-5 into a headwind with lactic gunk all in his legs is a remarkable feat.”

Notre Dame of Hingham is the top seed with an 18-0 record. faster, indicating that his best race of the season may still be on the horizon.”

Girls triple jump Davis, the newest addition to the triple-jump squad, reached 34-10, which is 29th in the state and third in the school record books.

Girls 4x800

O’Connell opened this relay running a 2:33, followed by Cat Piper with a 2:51, Juliet Burchfield with a 2:42 and Kate Twomey with a 2:30 that combined for a solid 10:37, which was good for sixth place.

Girls 4x100

Ava Machado, Cate Trautman, Sadie Halpern and Le’Daisha Williams sprinted to a 50.77 to come in fourth overall.

“Ava, Cate, Sadie and Le’Daisha were on their third or fourth race of the day, but yet they fought the entire way, narrowly missing their time of 50.63 at the state relays, where they all had fresh legs,” Herlihy said. “The sub-50 mark is inevitable, and I’m looking forward to seeing them competing against the best in the state in a few weeks.”

Boys 4x100

Jacob Bobowski, Harrison Curtis, Thomas Carlson and Sebastian Pantzer finished fifth with a 44.55, which is also a new school record.

Girls 4x400

Cora Gerson, Maren Rowe, Gabby Hendy and Devin Whalen ended up seventh with a time of 4:39.92.