Food Pantry at Charter School gets $10K donation

The Community Food Pantry at Marblehead Charter Community Public School has received a $10,000 donation from Stop & Shop.

It’s the second annual $10,000 donation from Stop & Shop to the food pantry which serves 75 students ages 8-14 and their families in Marblehead, Nahant, Salem, Swampscott, Beverly and Peabody.

According to the Greater Boston Food Bank, nearly two million people experience food insecurity across the state, with 20% of households experiencing very low food security.

Division 3 State Championship Meet, and Cate and Ava also making the All-States,” Raimo explained. “That being said, although the individual times were there, the 4x100 with highspeed handoffs in defined zones adds a load of variables that don’t exist in an individual race.”

Raimo continued, “From a strategic point of view, Ava was our best 100-meter runner this spring, and so having her open up the relay provided us a head start over many other teams.

Cate Trautman, our best 200meter runner (26.24), ran the

From P. A9 Lacrosse

From P. A9

The Magicians once again trailed by just one goal, 3-2. But the Dragons netted the next two to take a 5-2 halftime lead.

They then went on to outscore the Marblehead boys 4-2 in the third stanza to widen the gap to five. They netted three more in the final period while holding their North Shore counterparts scoreless to win the game 12-4.

Cronin scored both secondhalf Marblehead goals after second leg, which is theoretically the longest leg and where you slot your fastest runner. Sadie Halpern is the shortest of the bunch and the fastest curve runner, which is ideal for the third leg. Le’Daisha Williams, who is always calm, cool and collected, would bring the team through the final stretch.” assisting on the first two in the first half to end his sensational MVP 2023 season with 81 goals and 50 assists.

From the first invitational of the spring season — the Division 3 State Relay Meet — this Marblehead quartet was dominant. They won both the 4x100 and 4x200 on the same day, breaking the school record in both events. Their 4x100 time was 50.63, which lowered the previous school record by a full second.

“(Duxbury) was not going to let Connor (Cronin) beat them because they know he’s just as good distributing the ball as he is scoring goals,” said Wilkens.

Wilkens added, “But give Duxbury credit, they are a wellbalanced team who has been around the block quite a few times. They have been a state power for years.”

Wilkens said that this year has

At that point, they continued on to the Coaches Invitational, which hosts many of the top schools in the state, and they ended up fourth with a time of 50.77.

“It was a horribly hot day, and all the girls ran multiple events,” said Raimo after that meet. “But they still managed a fourth-place finish in the relay.” been a “pleasant surprise” for him.

Halpern, the star freshman, was dealing with blisters all week long but still battled through to run a quality leg, added Raimo.

The 4x100 team stumbled a bit in the NEC Championship Meet, when running multiple races in every meet inevitably caught up to them. They finished second with a time of 51.43.

“It’s a difficult thing to do to go undefeated with 18 straight regular-season wins and two more in the state tournament,” he said. “They were a cast of characters, starting with the seniors who set an excellent example since the first day of practice for the underclassmen who really improved this year. The future definitely looks bright for this program, with many other players ready to come up to the varsity to make

The coaches were worried that they overworked their sprinters in the regular season.

“We are supposed to get faster entering the postseason, and that slower time at the conference meet was evidence that we peaked too early,” said Raimo.

But a week after the NEC Meet, they got their fresher legs back at the divisional meet, when the MIAA divides up the events over two days. The team blitzed to the finish line with a 49.85 to win the state championship, beating out the second-place team by 0.01.

“Next up for our foursome was the All-States, where they finished fourth with a time of their mark.”

But for the 12 seniors on this team, their run will long be remembered for so many successes with very few losses. Their high school lacrosse careers did not really get underway until sophomore year after COVID wiped out the 2020 spring sports season.

As sophomores, nine of this year’s 12 seniors helped their varsity teammates to a 13-1 record. In 2022, they were 16-4, followed by this spring’s all-time record of 21-1. That’s 50 wins

49.93, which considering the cold, rainy weather was a huge success,” said Raimo.

The fourth-place finish qualified them for the aforementioned New England Championships in Maine over two days on June 9-10. Again, they were 10th overall in the region with a time of 49.88.

“With three of these runners returning next year — Le’Daisha, Ava and Sadie — we hope to raise the bar again,” said Raimo. “Cate (Trautman) was without a doubt the leader of this year’s relay team, and we wish her the best next year at the University of Colorado-Boulder campus, where she will participate in the honors engineering program.” in three years, while they only experienced the agony of defeat six times.

Led by All-American and NEC MVP Connor Cronin, Baxter Jennings, Sam Annese, Jack Aneshansley, Connor Sheridan, Eddie Johns, Aiden Tardie, Carter Laramie and Finn Maniaci played on the varsity all three years.

Zander Danforth and Connor Murnane suited up to play varsity for the last two, with Nick Whitaker joining the group for the first time this season.

Broadway Star

Little Theatre alum wins Tony award, makes history

BY LEIGH BLANDER

Members of Marblehead Little Theatre got a special treat watching the Tony Awards the other night when one of their former performers, Alex Newall, won the Best Featured Actor award for their role in the musical “Shucked.”

“We’re so happy and so thrilled to be a tiny part of their story,” MLT Board President Julie Menard told the Current.

Newall starred in four MLT predictions from 2009 to 2011. Steve Black directed Newall in every show. He was watching the Tonys with fingers crossed.

“I was so excited for a lot of reasons,” Black said. “To know someone who is a superstar in your backyard and then see them be a superstar on Broadway is amazing. And then there’s the inspiration for younger people to be who they are.”

Newall, who is 30 and grew up in Lynn, identifies as nonbinary and uses all pronouns. They are the first out nonbinary performer to win a Tony. Newall gave a shout-out to their home state in their Tony acceptance speech.

“Thank you for seeing me, Broadway. I should not be up here as a queer, nonbinary, fat, Black little baby from Massachusetts. And to anyone that thinks that they can’t do it, I’m going to look you dead in your face. That you can do anything you put your mind to.”

Newell is best known for playing the transgender teenager Unique Adams on the TV show “Glee.” They also previously starred in a Broadway revival of “Once on This Island.” Newall performed in “Once on This Island” at MLT, too, back in 2009.

Menard was cast in that local show, too, and remembers meeting Newall for the first time at auditions.

“I remember them being a little quiet and a little reserved. Then they opened their mouth to sing and it was like… I was gobsmacked. I remember thinking, ‘I won’t win a role against this kid.’ Such an absolute powerhouse. Working alongside them was always awe-inspiring.”

Newall went on to perform at MLT in the shows “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” “Songs for a New World” and “Hairspray.”

“Alex played Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray. It was a sell-out show for us. We added a 10th performance and that