Published in the May 4, 2016 edition
DOUBLING UP. Cristina Kinslieh competed in both the half mile (3:05) and the mile (6:34) in her team’s tri-meet against Hamilton-Wenham and Newburyport. (John Friberg Photo)
By MAUREEN DOHERTY
LYNNFIELD — Both the girls’ and boys’ track teams fielded relay teams that posted a strong showing at Saturday’s Division 4 State Relays.
Held in Bellingham, both of the boys’ relay teams placed in the top 6 in the division, qualifying them to win medals.
Boys’ results
The Distance Medley Relay team, which consists of runners competing in varied distances of 1200m-400m-800m-1600m, finished fifth overall with a time of 11:49.
The competitors were Ryan Iapicca (1200), Brendan Bey (400), Matt Weiss (800) and Matt Seelig (1600).
The Sprint Medley Relay team, which consists of runners competing in the 800m-200m-200m-400m, finished sixth overall with a time of 3:51.
Representing the Pioneers were Matt Seelig (800), Evan Battaglia (200), Drew McCarthy (200) and Brendan Bey (400).
“The boys have been working hard and it was a good confidence booster going into out next meet against Pentucket and Triton on Wednesday,” said head coach Bill Wallace.
PIONEER runner Chris Kinslieh finished second in 800m race against Hamilton-Wenham and third against Newburyport in 2:14. (John Friberg Photo)
Girls’ SMR takes 4th
“It was a great day for Lynnfield track,” said girls’ head coach Liane Cook after their competition in Bellingham. “Our sprint medley relay team consisted of Kate Mitchell running a PR for the 800m as the opening leg (2:22). Then Courtney Shinnick ran a 200m leg in 29.0 and Tia Julian ran the next 200m leg in 30.0. She passed it off to Julianna Passatempo with a big lead.
“Julianna fought off a very competitive last runner from Millis to win with a photo finish,” Cook said.
The foursome’s final time was 4:29:19, which earned them fourth place overall as well as medals for finishing among the top six.
Cook was also impressed by the fact that the girls were not competing in the fastest DMR heat, but they ultimately beat “several team from the fastest heat and our team consisted entirely of freshmen and sophomores,” she said.
“I was very proud of all the other performances today too. We had many younger athletes running events for the first time today since all of our seniors were either injured or involved with AP testing review sessions,” Cook said.
