Maddie Oro state silver medalist; boys team wows

 

KEVIN WHEELOCK competes in the Div. 4 State Championship at the Reggie Lewis Center. (courtesy photo)

KEVIN WHEELOCK competes in the Div. 4 State Championship at the Reggie Lewis Center. (courtesy photo)

MELROSE — The Melrose High School indoor track team turned heads on Saturday, Feb. 14 at the Div. 4 Indoor Track and Field State Championship at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. Among the highlights was a silver medal earned by senior Maddie Oro in the high jump and numbers of top 10 results from the speedy boys’ team, including an impressive fourth place finish from freshman Kevin Wheelock.

A number of Melrose athletes competed among the best with top competitors such as Pembroke and Northampton who placed first in boys’ and girls’ respectively. On the boys’ side Melrose was represented by Griffin Barriss (600m, relay), Adam Cook (two mile, relay), Robbie Hanlon (two mile, relay) and Duncan Locke (two mile, relay), Kevin Wheelock (mile, relay) Eddie Keenan, Kyle Thompson, Liam Brown and Duncan Locke. Wheelock was simply fantastic, just missing the podium by one second with a finish of 4:31.14 in the mile among a top field of seniors, giving a hint that he could be a state champ by the time he’s a senior. His efforts qualified him for All States next weekend. “Kevin, who was seeded fifteenth in the mile, is still learning how to pace himself. He always has so much energy left in his last lap of eight laps that we knew it was all about logistics and strategy in this race if he wanted to medal,” says coach Lisa Gentile.

The young Adam Cook also impressed. The sophomore finished sixth in the two mile with a time of 10:09, the second best time for an underclassman and earned a medal for his efforts. Teammate Robbie Hanlon was behind him at 10:36. Griffin Barriss competed in the 600m with a time of 1:33.25.14 Melrose’s 4×800 relay team of Barriss, Brown, Locke and Wheelock came in at 9:01.71, good enough for 14th. Melrose overall came in 21st.                        The girls’ team also enjoyed a solid meet. Melrose’s relay team of Maddie Oro, Sarah Herron, Anna Steele and Emily Donovan came in 22nd with a time of 4:35.53. Oro earned her silver medal with a leap of 5 feet 4 inches tied with Maria Garman of Scituate and bested only by Danae Bucci of Bedford who jumped 5’ 6”.