Published April 4, 2019
NORTH READING — The North Reading High School boys’ spring track program looks to continue their momentum from a strong winter season into their 2019 spring campaign.
Head coach Ryan Spinney enters his 11th season at the helm and has really liked the attitude and work ethic displayed so far in practice.
“This group of 64 young student athletes is a really talented and motivated one. We have 20 freshman, 21 sophomores, 14 juniors and 9 seniors on the team. Every practice so far has been upbeat, positive and full of hard work. They are setting their sights on big things and it will be a pleasure to watch how it develops over the course of the season,” stated Spinney.
JOE DiSANTO is one of the senior leaders for the 2019 NRHS boys’ outdoor track and field team. (John Friberg File Photo)
The coaching staff, who works with both the girls and boys teams, this spring includes Spinney, who coaches the distance squad, girls’ head coach Sotirios Pintzopoulos (short sprints, pole vault), Kirsten MacLellan (hurdles), Andrew Falanga and Tom Ledoux (throws), Joe Davis (high jump) and Katie Equi (long sprints and hurdles).
“Our coaching staff is second to none,” stated Spinney. “They work extremely hard at giving our kids the best instruction and support every single day. They are an asset and I know our athletes appreciate the time, knowledge and dedication they all exhibit in their areas of expertise.”
Leading the Hornets this season will be captains James Garniss, Joey McCarthy, Zach Rinaldi and Cam Chinchillo. All four were indoor captains this past winter and demonstrated strong leadership qualities.
“Our captains are excellent leaders and role models. They set a strong tone for our program and others respect and look up to them because of the example they set.”
Athletes looking to be major contributors to the Hornet attack this spring include a wide array of returning and newcomers to the squad. Starting with the seniors, James Garniss, Joey DiSanto, Zach Rinaldi, Karlis Plavins and Ahmed Benhafoune will help lead the throwing squad. Ben Tayas will be in the long and triple jump events. DiSanto, David Tingley and Joey McCarthy will be major parts of the sprint squad. McCarthy will pull double duty as he returns as the top ranking pole vaulter for the team. Plavins, Benahafoune and Joey Artone look to contribute in the distance events as well.
The junior class has a number of returning league, state and New England caliber athletes as well. Leading the charge is winter season league MVP Billy Lord, fresh off his 5th overall National performance in the 60 meter hurdles this winter. Lord will be hurdling, long jumping, high jumping and sprinting for the Hornets this spring.
Cam Chinchillo will be a major part of the Hornet jumping squad as he returns as league caliber high jumper and the defending league champion in the triple jump. Chinchillo has also added hurdles to the equation and will be looking to show off his multi faceted abilities very early in the season. Also returning is Will Carpenter (throws), Andrew DeBenedetto (distance), Brendan Witts (short sprints, long jump), Andrew Gonzales, (throws), Chris Nearing (distance) and Evan Raffael (sprints). All are looking to contribute to the Hornet cause and many are coming off of strong winter campaigns. Newcomers to the squad in the junior class include Justin Capezzuto (sprints), Preslav Karapchanski (sprints), Michael Luker (throws), Jordan Madden (throws), Ian Miller (high jump) and Stephen Vontzalides (sprints) and they will all be in the mix to contribute as well.
If the numbers indicate anything, the future looks very bright as well with almost 2/3’s of the team in the lower two classes. The sophomore class includes some league caliber athletes in a number of events. Jack Murphy (pole vault, distance), Grayson Budny (sprints), Garrett Butler (hurdles, long jump), and Ryan Good (long sprints) look to have great spring campaigns for the Hornets.
The Class of 2021 also includes a number of rising student athletes such as Devin Adams (sistance), Joey Caviasca (sprints), Jack Donohue (sprints), Sam McGeachie (distance), PJ Menis (distance), Blake Miller (sprints), Kyle Moore (distance), Henry Pelmas (distance), Kyle Rabbitt (long sprints), Nick Rinaldi (distance), Alec Semaan (long sprints), Gilly Silva (sprints), Gavin Tingley (sprints), Mark Tramontozzi (sprints), Erik Wieselquist (long sprints), Justin Wildman (jumps) and Peter Wyatt (throws).
The freshman class of 2022 has begun to put their stamp on NR track and field as within a few weeks of practice, the potential has started to shine through. Leading the way is John Jennings, who will be jumping, hurdling and running long sprints for the Hornets. Aidan Nadeau and Anthony Petrosino will be major players for the distance squad as they both are coming off very impressive winter campaigns. Lucca DaSilva has also made quite an impression as he will be hurdling and high jumping this season. Alex Carpenter looks to be a varsity pole vaulter, Ethan Barnes-Felix can hurdle and possibly long jump and Quinn Riesenberg looks to be a strong high jumper. Also contributing will be Nick Albano (long sprints), Spencer Beane (sprints), Jason Ciulla (long sprints and pole vault), Sebastian Gonzales (distance) Zachary Heintz (sprints), Ewan Kennedy (throws and sprints), Drew Manzi (sprints), Jacob Mikulski (sprints), Gavin Milligan (sprints), Landon Phillips (distance), Nathaniel Phillips (sprints and pole vault), Dean Rooney (sprints) and Patrick Tannian (sprints and pole vault).
The Hornets will kick off their 2019 regular season with a home meet on Monday, April 8 vs. Newburyport and Masco. The meet will start at 4 p.m.
