JUNIOR BEN HUI gives the 400 meter everything he’s got in the CAL championships. (John Friberg Photo)
By MAUREEN DOHERTY
WEST NEWBURY— The boys’ 4×100-meter relay team completed its undefeated season in the Cape Ann League track and field circuit with a championship finish.
The foursome of Jackson Hastings, Alex Brown, Nick Govostes and Nick Copelas capped off their winning season with a 44.93-second performance at the annual CAL Championship meet to bring home the All-League title in that event for the Hornets. They beat out Hamilton-Wenham (45.66) for the title.
The relay team is aiming to break the school record at the East Division 4 state championship, which was held in Norwell Wednesday afternoon (after press time). Torrential rain postponed this divisional state championship meet twice, first on Sunday and then on Monday. Results of the East Division 4 meet will determine which athletes qualify to advance to the All-State Meet slated for this weekend.
The 4x100m relay team’s victory earned North Reading 10 of its 45 points at the CAL meet. “We finished eighth out of nine teams, but the meet was very close between the fourth and eighth place teams,” coach Ryan Spinney said.
There were several other top performers at the CAL meet May 23, including a third-place finish in the javelin for David Smith (150′ 10″) and another third place for the 4×400 meter relay (3:36.81) team run by Justin Bruzzese, Zach Robarts, Ben Hui and Dan Coveney.
Taking fourth overall were Jackson Hastings in the 100 meters (11.96) and Nick Copelas in the 200 meters (23.62).
Three fifth-place finishes were also earned by the Hornets in the 4×800 meter relay (9:17.61) run by Jack Meaney, Matt Ashness, Seth Wing and Cam Wade as well as triple jumper Zach Robarts (39′ 4.5″) and 400-meter sprinter Dan Coveney (52.96).
Five Hornets closed out the team scoring with sixth-place finishes in the following events: discus: Vitaliy Andrusyshyn (104′ 9″), long jump: Kilian Daly (18′ 11.5″), 800 meters: Adam Sapp (2:06.32), 400 meters: Ben Hui (53.33) and 2-mile: Brendan Carter (10:18.8).
Performances by Ben Hui in the 400, Kilian Daly in the long jump and Zach Robarts in the triple jump were all personal bests, Spinney added.
