THE WARRIORS are the 2018 Div. 3 state champs.
Published in the May 29, 2018 edition.
NORTH READING — On the 50th anniversary of their last divisional state championship, the 2018 Wakefield boys’ track and field team channelled their inner ‘68 spirit to cement their legacy as Div. 3 state champs.
“Every year, the first meeting we have with the kids we talk about our goals which are to improve, compete for a league title, state relays and state title. Every year, we would get a little closer at meeting all of our goals,” said Wakefield head coach Ruben Reinoso. “Last year we were so close, but this year our kids were finally able to complete all of these goals.”
Leading up to Saturday’s meet at North Reading High School, the Wakefield coaching staff reiterated to their team the importance of keeping their composure throughout the meet.
“We told them that it would be a long meet and sometimes things go according to plan and sometimes they don’t, but they can’t panic,” said Reinoso. “I am really happy the way they kept their composure and stayed focused throughout the whole meet.”
Once again, It was a complete team effort for the Warriors, who always value the importance of depth. Wakefield only had one first place winner but they had a lot of key seconds, a third and some athletes even doubled and placed in multiple events.
The action on the track kicked off with the two mile under scorching temperatures in the high 80’s.
Junior Rohan Singhvi placed a strong 2nd place in a time of 9:53.42 and will make his first trip to the All State meet next Saturday. Junior Carter Margolis also scored valuable points as he placed 6th in a time of 10:11. Matt Roberto finished in 10:38. Tommy Lucey finished with a time of 10:48. Casey Brackett finished with a time of 10:58 and David Lee ran 11:15.
The mile went out slow in the first two laps and picked up a lot as Matt Greatorex finished in 2nd with a time of 4:28.74, earning him a trip to All States. Riley Brackett had his best postseason race of his career as he finished 7th picking up a few points and running a time of 4:39.15.
Just an hour after placing 2nd in the mile, Greatorex matched that performance with a 2nd place finish in the 800 with an impressive time of 1:57.76. Sophomore Tanner Jellison also had a very strong run as he placed 3rd in a personal best time of 1:59.02.
The 4×800 meter relay team of Billy Stevens, Trevor Zupan, Tommy Lucey, and Rohan Singhvi grabbed 6th place in a season-best time of 8:25.19 to put enough cushion over the 2nd place team and solidify the title.
In the shot put, Patrick Redmond did what he has done all year: win. Not only did he win, but he threw a big personal best of 52’8.25”. This throw qualifies him for the New Balance Nationals down in North Carolina.
“Patrick has worked so hard all year and he wanted to qualify for nationals this year,” said Reinoso. “I am so happy for him.”
In the discus, Charlie Senior was third with a throw of 128’3 giving Wakefield some big team points. Redmond threw 116’4. Redmond (shot put) and Senior (discus) will both move onto all states.
In the javelin, Joe Carmilia-Smith was fifth with a throw of 156-10. This was Carmilia-Smith’s first time throwing the javelin as he was injured last year.
“He is a tremendous athlete and competitor,” said Reinoso.
In the high jump, Marc Biennestin had a jump of 6’2 and was 6th overall and in the long jump he had a jump of 20’11.75 and was 7th overall.
In the sprinting events, Brian Smith doubled in the 100 and 200 and came back to run the 4×100 relay. In the 200 meters, Brian ran a 22.25 and the winner ran a 22.23.
That was the best time anyone has run in the 200 meters since 1994. With that time and place, Smith is moving onto all states. About 20-30 minutes after placing 2nd in the 200 meters, Smith came back and took 6th in the 100 meters with a time of 11.47.
In the 4×100 meter relay, Marc Biennestin, Joe Carmilia-Smith, Henry Stikeman and Brian Smith ran a PR of 44.06 and were 5th overall.
Carmilia-Smith’s javelin performance and the 4×100 relay team will have to wait until the end of the day today to find out if they will get into the all state championship meet, since only the top four places automatically get in, then the next top six.
In the 4×400, Trevor Zupan, Dom Denis, Riley Brackett and Ryan Ritchie ran a 3:59.
“What impressed me most was the way the kids cheered on each other throughout the whole meet,” said Reinoso, who, along with assistant coaches Perry Pappas, Justin Berry, Anthony LaFratta, Greg Gibbs and Elias Reinoso, has worked hard over the years to help turn Wakefield into a consistent contender.
“I am so proud of these coaches because they have been with me for a long time, most of them ten years, and they know how it was when we took over this program,” said Reinoso.
“The captains, Matt Greatorex, Patrick Redmond, Henry Stikeman and Tommy Lucey, have led by example and have kept the team together.”
“The last ten years have a been a journey and this is not in anyway a destination; I hope this is the beginning of things to come. Our kids won a championship because they did the little things right, they put the team first and every single day they worked hard, were committed and dedicated.”
“They made a lot of sacrifices along the way. When it is a nice day out you can see our distance team running around town, our throwers working on their technique or our sprinters doing sprint workouts. This is a team championship, and in that team we have all the members of this program who have ever put on the Wakefield jersey, we have our town, our parents, our coaches, our administrators and most importantly the 2018 team,” said Reinoso.
“They will always be D3 state champs.”
