Urchuk, O’Hara come up big
Published June 18, 2021
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The Melrose High boys outdoor track team competed among the finest when they took part in the 2021 Middlesex League Championship held at Burlington High on June 10. It was a fine day for Melrose as they saw two of their top athletes medal in their events.
Senior captain Dan Urchuk earned silver in the discus with a toss of 134-01, just behind winner Jarret Dlugy of Lexington. Urchuk would also go on to place 10th in the shot put. Meanwhile, UMass Amherst-bound track standout Jack O’Hara, also a senior captain, placed 4th in the 800 among the best of the ML 12. His time of 1:58.08 bested him above rivals from Belmont, Lexington and Wakefield.
“Both Urchuk and O’Hara had great days,” confirmed Melrose coach Tim Morris.
So good that the two are among the six Red Raiders that have qualified to compete at the Div. 2 States this weekend. They will join athletes Ellis lurilli-Hough (2 mile) Will Duggan (1 mile) and the team’s 4×800 relay of Stone Liu, Alex Cotugno, Ellis lurilli-Hough, Will Dugan and Jack O’Hara.
Both Urchuk and O’Hara come high seeded this weekend. Urchuk will compete in shot put and discus, the latter of which he is seeded second in. O’Hara will run the 800 and is second seeded there too. These high seedings should be of no surprise. Urcuk is continuing his outdoor track throwing career at Middlebury College while U-Mass Amherst bound Jack O’Hara will compete as a Div. 1 Minuteman.
But it was an overall effort on June 10 at Burlington High when Melrose competed in the ML 12 Championship. The Red Raiders started the day off in the 100 meter, represented by Trentyn Hodges and Kiran Thomas. Melrose saw Thomas and Paul Sampson run the 200 dash. Freshman Eric Hall competed in the 400 dash along with sophomore Peter Story. Jack O’Hara placed fourth in the 800 and teammate Ryan Cotugno was Melrose’s next best finish at 11th with a time of 2:06.06. Will Dugan cracked the top ten in the 1 mile, placing 9th with a time of 4:41.44. Stone Liu also competed with a time of 5:10.74.
Showing great promise in the 400 hurdles was sophomore Jevon Sebugwawo who placed 8th. Paul Sampson and CJ Maher both competed in the long jump, with Sampson placing 12th. Sophomore Trentyn Hodges had a nice showing in the triple jump with a reach of 36-05, while teammate Ellis lurilli-Hough jumped a 31-02. After Urchuk nearly swept the field in the discus, Melrose sophomore Jack Claeys also competed in the event. Those tossing shot put included Urchuk (10th) and teammates Justin Camelio and Luke Maher. In the javelin, Melrose saw Urchuk and Justin Camelio finish the day with reaches of 114-11 and 95-05, respectively.
This weekend, a good amount of the team will compete in the Div. 2 States at Weston High, taking part in the 800, 1 mile, 2 mile, shot, discus and 4×800. With a few athletes seeded high, look for Melrose to possibly walk away with some medal around the neck.
Stay tuned.
