Published May 27, 2021
NORTH READING — The NRHS boys’ spring track team had two strong efforts to bring their record to 4-0 on the season, as they defeated Amesbury 81-64 on May 19 and Pentucket 107-38 on Monday. This will set the stage for a showdown with Newburyport who is also 4-0 on Thursday, May 27 at NRHS.
Hornets down Amesbury
In a tight contest for much of the meet, the Hornets were able to best Amesbury on the coattails on some very strong performances across the board. Leading the way was the Hornet Hurdle Squad, as they swept both the 110 Meter and 400 Meter Hurdles respectively. Senior captain Jack Murphy took home the victory in the 400 event with a time of 59.64 and he was followed by senior captain Garrett Butler and junior John Jennings who took 2nd and 3rd places with times of 63.04 and 64.34 respectively.
In the 110 hurdles, junior Jacob Mikulski led the way with a time of 17.38 to take home the win. Butler and junior Spencer Beane followed Mikulski for 2nd and 3rd in times of 17.65 and 18.12.
“Our hurdle squad has been a major asset this season, they have contributed a great deal to our overall team success,” said Hornets head coach Ryan Spinney. “Coach Kirsten MacLellan is absolutely amazing at helping our hurdlers turn into strong, confident competitors. She deserves so much credit for their continued improvement.”
The pole vault success continued, as the Hornets swept once again led by junior Alex Carpenter, Murphy and junior Patrick Tannian. Carpenter and Murphy tied their school record vaults with another round of 13’ 0” efforts, while Tannian tied his best mark of 9’ 6”.
“Hornet alumnus Rachel Hill has been huge in helping our vaulters improve this year,” said Spinney. “They are setting such high marks and it is just amazing to watch.”
In the sprinting events, senior captain Grayson Budny continued his undefeated streak as he took home the win in the 100 Meter Dash in a time of 11.44. Carpenter cruised to 3rd with a time of 12.03. In the 200 Meter Dash, senior captain Ryan Good and junior Quinn Riesenberg took 2nd and 3rd overall in times of 23.68 and 24.62 respectively. In the 400 Meter Dash, Beane took 3rd in a hotly contested race, as he ran his personal best of 55.2. The 4 x 100 Meter Relay team of Carpenter, Donohue, Good and Budny stayed undefeated as well as they ran a season best 44.8 to take home the win.
In the jumps, Amesbury was able to capture first places but the Hornet depth helped balance out the points. In the High Jump, the Hornets took 2nd and 3rd with sophomore Jacob Duval jumping 5 6” and Mikulski jumping 5’ 4”. In the Triple Jump, Jennings took 2nd with a jump of 36’ 10”. In the Long Jump, Good took 2nd place honors with a jump of 18’ 0” to round out the Hornet attack.
Amesbury’s traditionally strong throws squad had a tough time breaking down the Hornets as they held their own in those 3 events. Senior Zach Sampson threw an 8th all time best in NRHS history toss of 46’ 4.5” to win the event.
“Zach has been a great addition to our team this spring,” said Spinney. “He has stepped right in and taken the reins as our top Shot Put thrower. He certainly has earned this wonderful honor.”
In the Discus, junior Casey O’Connor took 2nd with a personal best toss of 115’ 1” and in Javelin, Murphy and senior captain Peter Wyatt took 2nd and 3rd overall with heaves of 133’ 3” and 129’ 11” respectively.
“Coaches Andrew Falanga and Tom Ledoux have done a tremendous job with our throws squad as our guys have improved immensely. Each week we get stronger and more consistent,” said Spinney.
In the distance events, the Hornets had three winners and two 3rd place finishes to seal the deal. In the 800 Meter Run, Murphy took home top honors as he ran the 7th fastest time in NRHS history as he clocked in at 2:03.24. Senior Henry Pelmas took 3rd in a time of 2:16.64. In the one Mile, junior Aidan Nadeau continued his undefeated streak as he cruised to a 4:43.64 victory in the event and sophomore Nick Fabrizio took 3rd in a time of 5:00.84. In the 2 Mile, junior Anthony Petrosino scorched his personal best by 20 seconds as he ran 11:10.44 to take top honors.
Hornets blast Pentucket,
Carpenter sets new PV mark
In a good tuneup for the matchup with Newburyport, the Hornets won 10 events and both relays to down Pentucket 107-38. Five events were Hornet sweeps and the Hornets got at least two places in each event.
“The team knew we needed to perform well and set a tone for the second half of our season. That was certainly the case today as we had tremendous performances all over the place,” said Spinney. “Personal bests and many of our young athletes really stepped up and chipped in for the cause. This is such a deep and talented team; they are capable of doing amazing things.”
The highlight of the meet was the conclusion of the Pole Vault as both Alex Carpenter and Jack Murphy bested the previous school record of 13’ 0” with a new mark of 13’ 6”. Then Carpenter set an even higher standard with a vault of 14’ 0” on his first attempt at the height.
“Watching these two talented athletes has been a joy this season,” said Spinney. “They are now the peak of NR vaulting history and are among the very best in Massachusetts. Spectators love to watch all our vaulters compete and it is extra special that these guys now have a permanent place in NR track lure.”
The brooms were out for a number of events as the Hornets swept the 400 Meter Hurdles, one Mile, Javelin and Shot Put, in addition to the Pole Vault to gain a significant amount of points for the team score. The 400 Meter Hurdles were led by Garrett Butler, freshman Brandon Eng and Spencer Beane as they all finished in a tight group in times of 63.1, 63.3 and 63.4 respectively.
In the mile, sophomore Brady Miller recorded his first career varsity win as led the group with a time of 5:09.1, a personal best. Anthony Petrosino and sophomore Rocco Tammaro were right behind Miller in times of 5:11.1 and 5:21.1 respectively. In the Javelin, Peter Wyatt tied his personal best with a throw of 141’ 8” to take the win. Sophomore Garrett Arden and Jack Donohue threw personal bests as well as they took 2nd and 3rd with tosses of 130’ 3” and 125’ 4” respectively.
Rounding out the Hornet sweeps was the Shot Put crew of Zach Sampson, Wyatt and Casey O’Connor as they had throws of 45’ 2”, 37’ 9 and 35’ 8” respectively.
The 4 x 100 Meter Relay and 4 x 400 Meter Relay teams both took home wins as the 4 x 100 team (Carpenter, Donohue, Good, Budny) stayed undefeated in a time of 45.1 and the 4 x 400 team (Miller, Jennings, Senior Kyle Rabbitt, Nadeau) took home their first win of the season in a time of 3:48.4.
Other Hornet scorers included: O’Connor (1st, 124’ 2”) and Sampson (2nd, 96’ 10”) in the Discus, Jennings (2nd, 36’ 11”) and Riesenberg (3rd, 36’ 2.5”) in the Triple Jump, Budny (2nd, 19’ 3”) and Good (3rd, 18’ 11”) in the Long Jump, Mikulski (2nd, 5’ 6”) and Duval (3rd, 5’ 2”) in the High Jump, Murphy (2nd, 17.72) and Mikulski (3rd, 17.86) in the 110 Meter Hurdles, Budny (1st, 11.25) and Donohue (3rd, 11.94) in the 100 Meter Dash, Good (1st, 23.7) and Riesenberg (3rd, 24.3) in the 200 Meter Dash, Beane (2nd, 55.5) and Rabbitt (3rd, 57.0) in the 400 Meter Dash, Murphy (1st, 2:04.3) and Sophomore Ben Meier (3rd, 2:17.8) in the 800 Meter Run, Nadeau (1st, 10:27.6) and Fabrizio (3rd, 11:20.9) in the two Mile and Tannian taking home 3rd in the Pole Vault (9’ 6”). The Hornets will host a battle of undefeated’s on Thursday, May 27 at NRHS as they welcome fellow 4-0 powerhouse Newburyport to town. It will be a great contest for the Hornets as the winner could very well be crowned league season champion
