Published in the May 31, 2018 edition
NORTH READING — Over a period of two days, the NRHS boys’ spring track team fought and clawed their way into one of the highest finishes in program history as they finished 4th overall out of 37 teams at the Division three State championship held right at Arthur J. Kenney Field.
Pentathletes get the ball rolling
Senior captains Lionel Beane and Andrew Crotty and sophomore Billy Lord started the process on Thursday night as participants in the state pentathlon. The five events they participated in included the 110 meter hurdles, shot put, long jump, high jump and the 1500 meter run. Billy Lord broke his own school record as he ran the hurdles in 15.07, which was a .12 improvement overall. Not to be out done was Beane in a time of 15.75 and Crotty with his personal best time of 15.91. All three are now in the top 10 all time in school history for the 110 meter hurdles.
SOPHOMORE Billy Lord clears a hurdle on his way to a 4th place finish in the 110 meter hurdles at the state meet in North Reading on Saturday. (John Friberg Photo)
Crotty also had quite a personal record fest as he beat his high jump previous best by three new heights to get 5’ 3.75”. Lord and Beane both achieved 5’ 7.75”. In the shot put, Crotty and Beane went 1-2 as they both threw 38’ 5” and 36’ 4.25” respectively. Lord tossed a 30’ 2” throw for his best all season.
In the long jump, Beane broke 19’ and Lord topped 18’ 9”. Crotty launched himself to a leap of 17’ 7.5” which was his personal best.
To finish the day, the boys ran the 1500 which was a fight all the way to the end. Beane crushed his previous best as he ran 4:49.73 and Lord was close behind at 4:52.85. Crotty finished up with a solid 5:33.62. On the medal stand, Beane was 2nd in the state with a total of 3,038 points which is now a school record for the pentathlon. He will be competing at the all-state meet in the event on Thursday, May 31 at Fitchburg State College. Lord took 3rd with a total of 2,969 which is now 2nd all time in school history. Crotty took 6th overall with a point total 2,649 and is now 4th all time in school history. The boys’ efforts gave the Hornets a 17-point total at the end of the first day of competition.
Outstanding effort all over the track and field on day two
The main part of the competition took place on Saturday and the Hornets did not disappoint. Lionel Beane took 3rd overall in the 400 Meter Hurdles in a time of 58.79 which will qualify him for the all-state meet at Fitchburg State College on Saturday, June 2. Joining him will be teammates junior Joey McCarthy, senior Liam Tannian and sophomore Billy Lord. McCarthy took 3rd in the Pole Vault with a vault of 10’ 6” which tied his personal best. Tannian followed up with 4th in the Pole Vault with his vault of 10’ 0”. Lord took 4th in the 110 Meter Hurdles in a time of 15.25.
Chinchillo leaps into the Record Books; Beane scores in 110 Hurdles; Carpenter in Pole Vault
Sophomore Cam Chinchillo continued his extremely impressive season as he took 5th overall in the Triple Jump with a personal record leap of 42’ 8” which puts him in a tie for 2nd all time in NRHS history.
Lionel Beane continued his strong efforts as he took 7th overall in the 110 Meter Hurdles in a time of 15.75. Senior captain Nick Carpenter tied for 8th in the Pole Vault with a vault of 9’ 6”.
4×100 Meter Relay Amazes Again! Great Performances All-Around
The 4×100 Meter Relay team of Joey McCarthy, Grayson Budny, Billy Lord and Matt Dovale ran a personal team record of 44.20 which is 2nd all time in NRHS history and garnered them a 6th place finish at the state meet. The boys hope their effort might be good enough to claim a wild card spot at the all state championship on Saturday.
The other individual members of the team who competed on Saturday included Joey DiSanto who took 15th in the Shot Put with a toss of 40’ 5.75”, Andrew Crotty in the 110 Meter Hurdles who took 20th in a time of 16.75 and Jack Murphy in the Pole Vault in a vault of 9’ 0”.
The other boys’ relay squads performed extremely well as the 4×400 team of Jack Murphy, Zach Rinaldi, Nick Carpenter and Jake Doucette ran a season best of 3:41.22 which gave them a 15th place finish in the meet and the 4×800 team of Casey Robarts, Andrew DeBenedetto, Jake Doucette and Justin Hong took 11th overall with their season best of 8:38.94
48 Points = 4th overall
The boys finish of 4th overall is among one of the highest finishes in program history. Wakefield won the meet with 77 points, Pembroke took 2nd with a score if 53 and Tewksbury took 3rd with 51 points.
“I could not be prouder of this group,” head coach Ryan Spinney stated after the meet concluded. “They battled every single meet this season and to finish in the manner we did here at home is amazing. For our seniors, this is an excellent way to finish their careers.”
