Hornet boys’ track conquers Generals, Tigers to start season

NORTH READING’s Will Batten, Caleb Sands, Alex Carpenter and Lucas Do Val compete in the 100 meter dash against Ipswich on Monday. The Hornets host Amesbury on Thursday. (NRHS Track Photo)

 

NORTH READING — The NRHS Boys Spring Track team began their CAL League title defense with a solid outing with wins against both Hamilton-Wenham by a score of 123-22 and Ipswich by a score of 93-52. The Hornets led from wire to wire with dominating performances across the board.

“We wanted to set a tone for the season and we certainly were able to do that,” said Hornets Head Coach, Ryan Spinney. “We were able to establish a solid base layer for our expectations this season and the hope is each meet going forward will build upon this first two meets.”

The Hornets swept the top three places in 9 of the 17 events and won the two relays as well. The Generals only outscored the Hornets in two events all competition. Against the Tigers, the Hornets swept three events and won six others along the way.

Against H-W, throws sweep all three events and sprints sweep all four

The Javelin, Discus and Shot Put events were 1-2-3 sweeps for the Hornets, leading to a score of 27-0 in those events. In the Javelin, Junior Garrett Arden placed first with a toss of 154’ 5” which is good enough for 6th overall in school history. Behind him were Junior Kyle McCormack (129’ 3”) and Senior Ewan Kennedy (113’ 10”).

“Javelin is going to be a great event for us this spring,” said Spinney. “Coaches Andrew Falanga and Tom Ledoux have done a great job getting this group ready to compete. Garrett and Kyle in particular, were very motivated to gear up for this spring, you could see them working everyday in the weight room during the winter in preparation and it is showing.”

The Shot Put and Discus trio’s are led by Senior co-Captain Casey O’Connor as he won both events with tosses of 114’ 9” in the Discus and 39’ 4” in the Shot Put.

“Casey is looking to have a strong spring in these two events. He has the potential to be not only a league caliber thrower but a state caliber thrower in both events,” said Spinney. Following O’Connor, Senior Patrick Tannian (102’ 6”) and Junior Vincent Pastore (76’ 9”) took 2nd and 3rd in Discus and Arden (37’ 1”) and McCormack (33’ 9) added to their point total with 2nd and 3rd finishes in Shot Put.

In the sprinting events, the Hornets poured on the speed as they took all three top spots in the 100, 200 and 400 meter events, respectively. Senior co-Captain Alex Carpenter lead the speed attack with a victory in the 100 Meter Dash in a time of 11.80. He was followed closely behind by Junior Caleb Sands (11.9) and Freshman Lucas Do Val (12.1) to finish the sweep.

“Alex is coming off a great winter season, where he won the league title in the 55 meter dash. He is definitely hungry to continue his success. Caleb and Lucas are really coming into their own and will help us develop a strong presence in the event this season.”

 

 

In the 200, Senior Quinn Riesenberg took home the win in a time of 24.5. He was followed once again by Sands (24.8) and Junior Jason Emerson (25.9) to complete the sweep.

“These 3 had a solid start to the season in the 200. This is going to be another strong event for us this spring if we can keep up the hard work. Quinn is seasoned in this event and wants to finish his high school track career with his best possible finish,” said Spinney.

In the 400, Senior co-Captain Spencer Beane dominated the event as he ran 52.3 which places him 6th all time in NRHS history in the event. Following him was Junior Nathan Miller (56.8) and Senior Landon Phillips (58.3).

“Spencer is very hungry to succeed this spring, he had a great winter season and he has set his sights on trying to move up the all time leaderboard in the 400,” said Spinney. “Nathan and Landon both had solid first outings as well so we have a lot to be excited about with our sprint squad.”

The 4 x 100 Meter Relay team of Carpenter, Riesenberg, Sands and Do Val cruised to a win in the event in a time of 46.3 and the 4 x 400 Meter Relay team of Juniors consisting of Ben Meier, Matthew Manupelli Nick Fabrizio and Rocco Tammaro, who outkicked the HW squad with a time of 3:57.2

“Rocco had a tremendous closing leg to overtake the HW runner and outlean him at the end. A fantastic effort to end the meet.”

In the distance events, Senior Co-Captain Aidan Nadeau turned in quite an effort in the 2 mile as he clocked in with a 10:15.8, which placed him firmly ahead of the rest of the field.

“Aidan is looking to end his NRHS career with some pretty impressive performances across the board. He set a nice tone today with his 2 mile run. He gets stronger with each race,” said Spinney.

Nick Fabrizio took home second place in the mile (5:05.2), and Ben Meier and Matthew Manupelli went second and third in the 800 meter run with times of 2:16.7 and 2:21.8 respectively.

In the jumping events, the Hornets took first and third in the Pole Vault as Carpenter (11’6) and Senior Patrick Tannian (10’ 0”) had solid days. Junior Ryan McGuire won both the Triple and Long Jump events with state qualifying leaps of 42’ 9.25” in Triple Jump (2nd all time in NRHS history) and 20’ 7” in Long Jump (8th all time in NRHS history.)

“Ryan is going to have a major impact on our program before he is done. He is beyond naturally talented and has a desire to win. He will be very special to watch,” said Spinney.

Following McGuire, Seniors Quinn Riesenberg (37’ 1.5”) and co-Captain John Jennings (34’ 5.25”) took second and third in the Triple Jump, while in the Long Jump, Beane (18’ 4.5”) and Junior Nathan Miller (18’ 1.5”) took second and third as well. In the High Jump, Senior Sebastian Gonzales took 1st in the event with a jump of 5’ 2” and fellow Senior Jake Mikulski took third with a jump of 5’ 0”.

“Our jumping squad is going to be solid this spring. We have a lot of depth and it will definitely help our team performance in dual meets and at larger invites as well,” said Spinney.

Rounding out the events were the hurdles, as the Hornets cruised to a 1-2-3 finish in the 110 Meter Hurdles with Beane (17.1), Mikulski (17.3) and Jennings (17.5) all running solid races. Jennings took first in the 400 Meter Hurdles in a time of 63.5 and he was followed by Sophomore Brandon Eng who took second in a time of 67.2.

“Lots to be proud of today as we performed well but we have a long way to go this spring,” said Spinney.

Hornets Pounce on Tigers, win 93-52

The Hornets were able to score a decisive victory over Ipswich as they cruised to a 93-52 win and a 2-0 record to open the season. Senior co-Captains Spencer Beane and Casey O’Connor, led the attack as Beane took home a victory in the 400 Meter Run (53.4) and two second place finishes in the 110 Meter Hurdles (16.8) and Long Jump (19’ 7), while O’Connor took two victories in the Shot Put (38’ 7) and Discus (116’1”). Junior Garrett Arden scored another victory in the Javelin with a toss of 147’ 3” and classmate Kyle McCormack was not far behind with a personal best toss of 138’ 8”.

Senior co-Captain Aidan Nadeau blazed a 4:42.1 1 mile victory, which places him 10th all time in school history for the event. Junior Nick Fabrizio won the 2 mile in a time of 11:12.0 and he was followed by Senior co-captain Anthony Petrosino with his time of 11:32.1

Junior Ryan McGuire scored a victory in the Triple Jump as he hit a jump of 40’ 6”. Senior Quinn Riesenberg won the 200 Meter Dash in 24.3, Senior co-Captain Alex Carpenter took home the win in the Pole Vault with a vault of 11’6” and Sophomore Will Batten made his track debut with a solid 11.6 effort to win the 100 Meter Dash.

“Lots of quality performances today against a solid opponent,” said Hornets Head Coach Ryan Spinney. “We improved in some areas and see some room for growth in others. We certainly have a great amount of depth and that will be key to our success down the road.”

The Hornets will take on Amesbury on Thursday, April 14 at NRHS in their third meet of the season.