NORTH READING — After several weeks of training, the Hornet indoor track and field teams are off to a good start.
The girls’ team is 2-2, beating both Lynnfield and Essex Tech and losing two close meets to Triton and Newburyport.
The boys’ team is 3-1, dominating Lynnfield, Essex Tech, and Triton while falling to Newburyport in the meet- deciding 4×400 meter relay.
Both teams are coached by Sotirios Pintzopoulos and assistants Ryan Spinney and Matt Dorothy. The girls’ team is led by captains Cole Godzinski, Kerri-Ann Donovan, Tori Brown and Karah Gravallese. The boys’ team is led by captains Jake O’Connell, Greg Landry, Dan Coveney and Jake Intorcio.
Girls have lofty goals
The girls’ team has 35 on the roster filled with a mixture of veteran sprinters and novice distance runners. Coming off of last year’s Division 5 State Relay Championship and a fourth place finish at the Division 5 State Meet, the girls have lofty goals to continue their winning ways.
Cole Godzinski returns as the top competitor. She is currently ranked first in the state in the 55-meter hurdles and has also qualified in the long jump. She leads a talented squad of several hurdlers all with goals of qualifying for the state meet, including Jenna Raffael and Olivia DeMonico.
Kerri-Ann Donovan and Anna Tayas handle the 300 meters while Payton Conway-Baker, Marissa Zarella and Kristina Copelas run anything under 55 meters. Tori Brown runs anywhere from 55-600 meters while Sophie Warren and Elizabeth Flett compete in shot put. Freshman standouts include Meredith Griffin, who leads the distance squad in only her first year, Tara Driver in the shot put, and Lauren Gulbicki in the high jump.
55 join boys’ team
The boys’ team has 55 on the roster and is filled with many newcomers to the sport who are already exhibiting potential. “The keys to their success this year will definitely rely on their depth. In the sprints alone there are a dozen state-caliber athletes with plenty of experience in the distance events,” commented Coach Pintzopoulos.
“Greg Landry and John Lewis are two of the top hurdlers in the league with George Giunta not far behind as only a sophomore. Lewis also leads in the team in the high jump, having already qualified for states in the event,” he added.
Jackson Hastings, Angelo DiSanto, David Smith and Kyle Bythrow are all just one-tenth to two-tenths of a second from qualifying for states in the 55-meter dash. Nick Copelas, a 200-meter stand-out outdoors, has already qualified for the states in the 300 meters, with Alex Brown, Ryan McAneny and Ben Hui not far behind, their coach said.
Ben Hui steps up to the 600 meters to help score points for the team and is followed by Justin Zhang and Anthony Tramontozzi, two promising new additions. Adam Sapp, Peter Audier and Anthony D’Ambrosio have improved considerably in the 1000 meters. Jake O’Connell and Brendan Carter are coming off a strong cross country season and will lead in team in the mile and 2-mile races. “Jake has already qualified for states in the mile and Brendan is only seconds away,” Pintzopoulos said, adding, “Dan Coveney has proven the most versatile, running in anything from the 600 meters to 2-mile and just recently picking up the shot put and he also anchors the 4×400 meter relay.”
Both teams hope to place high up in the Cape Ann League standings while setting their sights at championship accolades at the state level. Check out their team website at Google site’s “North Reading Track and Field” for updated schedules, results, pictures, videos and archived records.
