THE 56th Lynnfield Athletic Association’s 4th of July 5K road race was another big success. (Heather Dreher Photo)

 

By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI

LYNNFIELD — The annual Lynnfield Athletic Association July 4th 5K (3.1 miles) Road Race took place on a damp, humid day last Tuesday with 302 runners competing. This is the 56th edition of the event that was canceled due to Covid back in 2020 and 2021.

The winner was Lynnfield’s Nathan Lopez who won with a time of 16:52. The 18-year old St. John’s Prep grad, who is going to the University of Michigan this fall, won by 1:06 over second-place finisher, Patrick Walsh, who is also from town.

Jason Paige came in third as the North Reading resident had a time of 18:59.

“I did the race a few years ago,” recalled Lopez, who got a scholarship for track and cross country at Michigan. “It was pretty humid so I ran a comfortable pace.”

Lopez felt confident about winning midway through as he started to pull away in the second half.

“The race was put on well and I had a good time,” said Lopez, who was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in Track in Field in the state. “The fan support was super.”

The women’s winner was Shana Frank as the 38-year old from Weston had a time of 20.57. Overall, she finished 13th.

Coming in second for the women’s division was Lynnfield’s Kristen Dorsky as the 44-year old had a time of 22:03 to finish 19th overall and 1:06 behind Frank.

Emily Bouchard captured third for the women as the 24-year old from Peabody had a time of 22:27 Bouchard was 23rd overall.

The top Lynnfield High male was 16-year old Shea McCarthy who had a time of 19:19 as he placed 6th overall. McCarthy is a member of the Lynnfield High boys’ tennis team which reached the Division 4 state finals this spring.

Shealyn Moore was the top Lynnfield High girls’ athlete as the 15-year old had a time of 26:16.

Overall, eight Lynnfield residents finished in the top 20.

Along with Lopez, McCarthy and Dorsky, the other five, top 20 residents were 20-year old David Picariello (20:00 for seventh), 41-year old Joel Beal (20:25 for tenth), 38-year old Scott Fitzmeyer (20:29 for 11th), 27-year old Christoph McCarthy (21:00 for 14th), and 21-year old Bryan Mallett (21:52) for 18th).

“The rain held off until the end so we were able to finish the race, and hand out the medals and door prizes,” said Jen Briggs, who is one of the race coordinators. “There were 302 runners this year up from 247 in 2022. Despite the weather, we had a very successful day for the LAA. We want to thank our donors and the Lynnfield community for all their support.”

This year’s sponsors were the Wakefield Cooperative Bank, Moynihan Lumber, The YMCA Metro North, Littlefield Real Estate, Salem Five Bank, Supino Insurance Agency, A Healthy Lynnfield, Market Street and North Shore Bank.

The business donors were, Athleta, Kendra Scott, Wellness in Motion, Booty by Brabants, Chicken and the Pig, Burton’s Restaurant, Christine’s Cafe, Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks.