THE WARRIORS boys’ track and field team took home second place at the 2018 Massachusetts State Relay Meet.
Published in the January 23, 2018 edition.
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
BOSTON — The WMHS boys’ indoor track and field team traveled back to the Reggie Lewis Center on Saturday to compete in the MSTCA Div. 4 State Relays. The Warriors finished the regular season at 5-0 and put together another strong and consistent performance at State Relays, as they took second place.
“Finishing second is very impressive and I am really proud of our team,” said head coach Ruben Reinoso. “We asked a lot of our athletes for this meet; some had to run three events. My coaches did an excellent job as they always do, to make sure our kids were mentally prepared.”
Wakefield finished first in the 4×800, with each runner finishing with a similar time. Tommy Lucey led off (2:06) followed by Riley Brackett (2:08), Billy Stevens (2:08) and anchored by Tanner Jellison (2:02).
The shot put relay team consisting of Patrick Redmond, Charlie Senior and Liam Cosgrove finished in 2nd with a combined throwing distance of 121’6”.
The Warriors had two teams score big points in the distance medley relay, with one taking 3rd and the other snagging 6th. Lucey ran 1200 meters to start the 3rd place team, followed by Trevor Zupan who ran 400 m in :55, Jellison who ran 800 in 2:06 and Matt Greatorex who took it home, running 1600 m in 4:36 for a total time of 11:02.16. The 6th-place team ran 11:22.13 starting with Riley Brackett, Nick Connor (:57), Stevens (2:09) and Rohan Singhvi (4:45).
Wakefield took 4th place in multiple events, including the 4×50 sprinters (23.13) consisting of Henry Stikeman, Ryan Obear, Tommy Mottl and Marc Biennestin.
Biennestin also helped the Warriors finish 4th in the high jump as the senior led the way with a 5’9 leap. Tom Galvin (5’7) and Sam Morey (5) were the other jumpers for Wakefield.
The sprint medley relay team also took 4th with a time of 3:45.75. Greatorex led off running 800 meters in 2:00 flat, followed by 200 m sprints from Jared Hurley (24.8) and Henry Stikeman (24.3), while Zupan anchored with a 400 m run in :56.
The 4×200 was also impressive, finishing in 1:37.45 for 6th place. Obear went first, followed by Hurley, Mottl and Stikeman who finished up a great day by helping his teams place in all three events that he participated in.
The Warriors have built a program comprised of student-athletes who have a compete for first place mentality, and although they finished just 2.5 points away from the gold, it is that mentality that allows them to put themselves in position to match up against anybody.
“What was great to see is how our kids approached this meet,” said Reinoso. “They went into it expecting to win and they were focused on doing all the things necessary to put themselves in that spot. Years ago, we would go into these meets hoping to score a point, so we don’t take second place for granted and we are very humble at the idea that most people expected us to win.”
The Warriors finished right behind Freedom rival Burlington, who they beat in the regular season. Wakefield will have another shot at the Red Devils as the boys will reset their focus once again for the Middlesex League Championship Meet on Feb. 5 followed by the Div. 4 State Meet on Feb. 15.
“Although our kids were disappointed, because we lost to Burlington (at State Relays) again, I look at it as motivation and fuel for divisionals,” said Reinoso.
