Warriors tame Wilmington in first meet at Beasley
JIAN Glen Gallardo had a terrific jump of 20-0 to take second in the long jump behind teammate Pat Casaletto’s winning leap of 20-9. Gallardo qualified for states with the distance. (Donna Larsson Photo)
WAKEFIELD — Even though it is late April, the Wakefield Memorial High boys’ track team ran its home opener yesterday afternoon as it hosted Wilmington in a Middlesex League Freedom division dual meet at the Beasley Track and Field facility.
The Warriors were presented with a challenge from a good Wildcats team but they emerged with an 87-49 triumph.
Wakefield increased its record to a perfect 3-0 on the season.
The Warriors went first and second in the 400 hurdles to begin the meet as seniors Joe Hurton and Brian Dickey captured the top two places with times of 60.2 seconds and 62.1 seconds.
In the mile, senior Ian Ritchie came in first in a time of 4:58.7, while freshman Tommy Lucey was third at 5:06.2.
The 4×100 relay was won by Wakefield in a time of 45.3 seconds. Wilmington clocked in at 46.9 seconds.
Headed to the field events, the Warriors received two terrific performances in the long jump as senior Pat Casaletto won the event with a leap of 20-9 and junior Jian Glen Gallardo finished with a distance of 20-0.
The Warriors took first and third in the shot put with seniors Ben Joly and Dan Wensley having throws of 46-11 1/2 and 39-2 1/2.
Wakefield took second and third in the javelin with juniors Kevin Russo and Eric Smith having heaves of 147-10 and 131-3.
Casaletto came in first in the high jump as he cleared 5-10, while Dickey came in third with a height of 5-4.
Hurton won the triple jump as he had a good distance of 42-5.
In the discus, Wensley and sophomore Joe Connell finished second and third with throws of 103-6 and 98-7.
When the meet returned to the track, Wilmington swept the 110 high hurdles.
But Wakefield earned a first place in the 100 meter dash as junior Eric Chi won with a time of 11.0 seconds.
In the 400 meter run, Hurton won his third event of the meet as he clocked in at 54.6 seconds. Taking second was Joe Boudreau, a junior, as he posted a time of 56.7 seconds.
The Warriors captured first and second in the 800 meter run. Sophomore Adam Roberto clocked in at 2:11.0 and junior Rich Custodio was right behind him at 2:11.9.
Russo secured a third place in the 200 meter dash as he timed in at 24.0 seconds.
The Warriors had a nice one-two finish in the two mile as junior Alec Rodgers and senior Jackson Gallagher posted times of 10:33 and 10:37.
Wakefield capped off the meet by winning the 4×400 relay in a time of 3:50. The four runners included senior Tyler Strauss, Boudreau, Custodio and Ritchie.
“We had another strong performance against a very good Wilmington team,” said Head Coach Ruben Reinoso. “Joe Hurton had another 15 point day as he won the 400 hurdles, 400 meters and the triple jump. He improved in the triple jump by a foot and a half. Currently he has the best jump in the league and is third in the state.
Pat Casaletto had a great day, as well, as he won both the high jump and long jump,” added Reinoso. “In the high jump he jumped 5-10 and in the long jump he jumped 20-9. These two jumps are tops in the league and state, qualified him for states and are some of best performances in Wakefield in a long time. Jian Gallardo also qualified for states in the long jump as he jumped 20-0.
“Eric Chi also had a big day as he qualified for states in the 100 meters. His time of 11.0 is the best time since the current record of 10.7 held by Scott Price and Brian Howell,” continued Reinoso. “Athletes of the meet were Alec Rodgers, Eric Chi, Pat Casaletto and Tommy Lucey. We now prepare for the state freshman/sophomore meet, the league freshman/sophomore meet and the Twilight meet this Saturday.”
The Middlesex League Freshman/Sophomore meet will be on Saturday at 9 a.m. at Burlington High School, the state freshman/sophomore meet for the small schools is at 9:30 a.m. at Norwell High School, and the Twilight Meet will be on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Weston High School.
Wakefield’s next dual meet is on Tuesday, May 5 when it hosts Melrose at 3:30 p.m. at the Beasley Track and Field facility.
