Gallagher places second, Joly and 4×800 relay team take third
JACKSON GALLAGHER, a senior, came in second overall in the 600 meter run with a time of 1:21.70 at the Div. 4 meet on Saturday. Gallagher set a WMHS record and broke the old meet record. Gallagher will be competing in the All-State meet on Saturday.
(Donna Larsson File Photo)
BOSTON — The Wakefield Memorial High boys’ indoor track team was hoping to add a Div. 4 title to the Middlesex League Freedom division championship it had just won. However the talent in the division was pretty darn good as the Warriors secured sixth overall with 24 points on Saturday in the Div. 4 championship meet which was held on Saturday at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center.
Northampton won the meet with 58 points, while Norton was second with 57.5. Pembroke (40 points), Burlington (37 points) and Longmeadow (34 points) finished third, fourth and fifth overall. In dual meet competition, the Warriors defeated Burlington, 45-41, for the M.L. Freedom division championship.
“We had a pretty good day this past weekend at D4 states. We were well represented and, although we didn’t win the meet, we ended up sixth overall against some of the best talent across all divisions,” said Head Coach Ruben Reinoso.
The 600 meter run was the race of the day. Jackson Gallagher, a senior, was hoping to defend his Div. 4 state title from a year ago. He was seeded third coming into the meet. The only person that stood in his way was Rodney Agyare-May of Burncoat in Worcester. Agyare-May had to shatter the meet record to take the title. Gallagher took the lead going through the 200 and 400 meters marks but Agyare-May (1:21.30) surged ahead with about 100 meters to go.
Gallagher still ran a phenomenal time as he also broke the meet record while lowering the WMHS school record by almost a full second with a time of 1:21.70. Gallagher’s time would also have broken the Div. 3 and 5 meet records and is close to the Div 2 meet record.
Gallagher also qualified for Nationals as he is now ranked 12th in the country with that mark. He will be seeded third at the All-State meet this Saturday behind U.S. #2 ranked Joe Luongo of St. John’s Prep and Agyare-May.
Senior Ben Joly also had a great individual performance as he took third overall in the shot put. Joly had a throw of 49-3 1/2 which was also two feet better than his previous best. Taking first in the event was Pembroke’s Ben Stoyle (54-0) and finishing second as Burlington’s Matt Jankowski (49-11 3/4).
Joly will also be moving on to the All-State meet on Saturday.
Wakefield also had a terrific performance from its 4×800 relay. The 4×800 relay captured third overall in a time of 8:12.80 and established a WMHS record in the process Reinoso believes. The four competitors were Gallagher (1:59), junior Alec Rodgers (2:06), sophomore Adam Roberto (2:04) and senior Ian Ritchie (2:02).
The 4×800 relay also has qualified to compete in the All-State meet on Saturday.
The 4×400 relay team came in seventh overall in a time of 3:40.93. The four runners included senior Cam Yasi, junior Joe Boudreau, senior Tyler Strauss and senior Joe Hurton.
Scoring a point with an eighth place finish in the 1000 meter run was Ritchie who clocked in at 2:41.67.
Wakefield grabbed eighth place in the 4×200 relay with a time of 1:36.82. The four runners included junior Jian Glen Gallardo, junior Eric Chi, senior Kyle Geaney and junior Kevin Russo.
In the 55 meter dash, Wakefield had Chi and Russo entered. Chi ran a personal best time of 6.92 seconds and placed 21st overall while Russo clocked in at 7.04 seconds and finished in 29th place.
Yasi and Joe Hurton competed in the 300 meter dash and they timed in at 37.91 seconds and 38.47 seconds for a 12th place and 17th place showing. Yasi’s time was a personal best.
In the two mile, Rich Custodio, a junior, finished 15th overall in a time of 10:34.61.
Senior Pat Casaletto cleared 5-8 in the high jump and placed 13th overall in the event.
“I am really proud of our team because we had a strong showing and we still have another week to display our talents,” said Reinoso.
The All-State meet will be held on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at the Lewis Center.
