Boys’ track improves to 2-0 as Murphy and Carpenter tie pole vault record

Published May 20, 2021

IPSWICH — The North Reading boys’ spring track team improved their season record to 2-0 with a convincing win over Ipswich by a score of 102-43 on May 11. The team was able to capture 1st place finishes in 12 out of the 17 events and also picked up 12 out of 15 3rd place finishes to help pad the score.
Another meet, another
vaulting record
Senior captain Jack Murphy and junior Alex Carpenter have had a historic start to this campaign as they both have now tied the school record Pole Vault height of 13’ 0” set by Fred Rex in 1973. Carpenter has now tied the mark in two consecutive meets and Murphy’s vault against Ipswich pushed him into the record books as well.
“Jack and Alex have been absolutely amazing in the event so far this year,” said Hornets head coach Ryan Spinney. “They both live and breathe the vault and it is such a surreal experience to watch not one but two vaulters achieve a standard that took almost 50 years to match.”
Junior Patrick Tannian is the third member of the trio and he is at a personal best height of 9’ 6”, which helped the Hornets sweep the event.
In the hurdle events, the Hornets were able to take 10 out of 18 points. The 400 Meter Hurdle trio of Murphy, senior captain Garrett Butler and junior John Jennings swept the event in times of 60.44, 64.54 and 64.54 respectively. Butler took 3rd in the 110 Meter Hurdles in a time of 18.24, a season best for him in the event.
In the jumps, the Hornets had a number of strong performances across the board to help contribute to the team effort. In the long jump, senior captains Ryan Good and Grayson Budny, as well as junior Quinn Riesenberg took all three top places with jumps of 19’ 7.5”, 19’ 4.5” and 17’ 1” respectively.
“Excellent work by the long jumpers today,” said Spinney. “They really improved over last meet and it is a testament to their hard work over the last week in practice.”
In the Triple Jump, Jennings and Riesenberg snagged first and 3rd with jumps of 36’ 5” and 34’ 6” respectively. In the High Jump, sophomore Jacob Duval and junior Jacob Mikulski took 2nd and 3rd with solid 5’ 4” leaps.
In the throwing events of Shot Put, Discus and Javelin, the Hornets once again held their own as they swept the Shot, took first in the Discus and first and third in the Javelin.
Senior Zach Sampson led the Shot Put brigade with a toss of 41’ 11” to take first in the event. Senior captain Peter Wyatt and junior Casey O’Connor followed with tosses of 36’ 2.5” and 34’ 10.5” respectively to seal the sweep. O’Connor took home the win in the Discus with his new personal best of 105’ 1”, while Wyatt led the charge in the Javelin as he threw his personal best of 141’ 8” to win the event while fellow senior Jack Donohue nabbed third place with a heave of 116’ 0”.
“Our throws squad has been getting stronger and stronger each week,” said Spinney. “They have been working so hard and it is awesome to watch them improve at the rate they have been over the last few weeks.”
Sweep 100M dash
On the track, the Hornet sprinters and distance squad had a great day as well. In the 100 Meter Dash, the trio of senior captain Grayson Budny, Carpenter and Donohue sped away from the field to sweep the event in times of 11.34, 11.84 and 12.14 respectively. In the 200 Meter Dash, Good and Riesenberg took home top two places with times of 24.54 and 25.64 respectively. In the 400 Meter Dash, junior Spencer Beane and Jennings took second and third in times of 56.94 and 58.24 respectively. The 4 x 100 Meter Relay team of Carpenter, senior Joey Caviasca, Good and Budny cruised to victory in a time of 46.14 as well.
In the 800 Meters, Murphy took home top honors with his 2:09.44 effort. In the mile, sophomore Nick Fabrizio and junior Anthony Petrosino took second and third in times of 5:06.84 and 5:19.24 respectively. Rounding out the team score were the two milers junior Aidan Nadeau and sophomore’s Rocco Tammaro and Brodie Mann as they swept the event with times of 10:15.74, 12:00.14 and 12:06.24 respectively.
“This was such a great team effort today and it is starting to sink in that if we keep up the hard work, this could be a very special season for this squad,” said Spinney.
The Hornets took on Amesbury on Wednesday after press time in their third contest of the season. They travel to Pentucket on Monday at 4:30 p.m.