Published in the December 29, 2016 edition
THE WMHS boys’ cross country team captured the Div. 4 title, Wakefield’s first Eastern Mass. state title since 1982.
New Year’s Day is three days away and it is time to take a quick look back over the year in Wakefield sports. While there were many, many achievements by teams and individuals at the high school and youth levels, here are some of the top stories of the calendar year 2016.
The top stories of the year are in random order and not by order of importance since that is often subjective.
The sign of a top story is when teams have terrific seasons making the playoffs, letting their actions on the field do their talking. Also, something controversial or unusual that takes place usually is a top story as well.
There were stories of WMHS teams making the state tournament, clinching league titles, individual achievements by Wakefield athletes, and summer and youth teams that excelled as well.
There were also a number of individuals that excelled at the youth and collegiate levels over the past year, and the since the achievements are so many, there are simply too many to single out all but a few. The Item recognizes all the individual and team accomplishments this past year by future, present, and former Warrior athletes and athletes that either live or have lived in this community and congratulates their fine efforts.
While the Item Sports Department tries to highlight 10 of the top events, there always seems to be something that is left out inadvertently. Even if an event isn’t recognized as one of the top stories of 2016, that does nothing to diminish its importance.
1. Boys’ cross country team wins first Eastern Mass. state title since 1982
The Warriors took home the 2016 Division 4 Eastern Massachusetts State Championship at the Wrentham Developmental Center. It was the first boys’ cross country title since 1982. It is also the first title for any Wakefield team since 1999 when the football team won the Super Bowl.
The Warriors captured the title and did so in dominating fashion as all five scorers placed in the top 21. They scored an impressive 38 points after totaling their top five runners’ positions. Their total was well below second place Melrose, which had 99 points.
Not only did the Warriors win the team title, but they proudly had the 2016 individual champion in junior Matt Greatorex who ran a very smart race from start to finish. He ran time of 16:19.3.
The rest of the Warriors were also amazing in the biggest meet of their season. Senior Adam Roberto, senior Nick McGee, and junior Tommy Lucey were looming about five seconds back with a mile to go. Senior Ryan Sullivan was not far behind.
The victory was looking imminent at the two mile and the boys worked to maintain position in the last mile.
Impressively Roberto and McGee were able to finish in fourth and fifth. Roberto finished with a time of 16:36.64 while McGee ran 16:37.17. Lucey ran an astounding 40 second personal best on the Wrentham course to finish in seventh with a time of 16:47.21. Sullivan ran a hard fought race and toughed out a 21st place finish in 17:06.59 to help the Warriors secure the title.
Senior Jack Stevens ran a strong race as well placing 30th in a time of 17:26.81. Junior Riley Brackett was 91st with a time of 18:46.43 to round out the seven Wakefield runners in the meet.
Wakefield, which also captured its first Middlesex League Freedom division crowned since 2013, then capped off the fall season with a second place showing in the Div. 2 All-State Meet with Central Mass. power Hopedale winning the title.
Greatorex was selected to the Boston Globe All Scholastic Cross Country team after a standout junior season.
Greatorex was the Division 4 Eastern Massachusetts state champion, Wakefield’s first individual champ since 1971. He was also 12th at All States at 16:54 helping lead the team to a second place finish.
In addition Head Coach Perry Pappas was named the Boston Globe’s Boys’ Cross Country Division 2 Coach of the Year.
2. Girls’ cross country team captures sixth straight M.L. crown
Wakefield finished the league portion of the dual meet schedule undefeated at 5-0 (5-2 overall) and claimed its sixth consecutive Middlesex League Freedom division championship.
In a showdown for the league championship in the dual meet finale, the Warriors showed why they have been the Freedom division’s best the past six years as they posted a 25-34 triumph over them once-beaten Watertown.
Wakefield remained “In the mix for six”, but just barely when it had its closest call in nearly six years in a 28-29 win over upstart Melrose on Oct. 11.
Melrose took first, fourth, fifth, and seventh while the Warriors had runners place second, third, and sixth. However it was the Warriors that took eighth, ninth, 10th, and 11th that displaced Melrose’s fifth runner and allowed Wakefield to win the meet.
Wakefield was led by its four league all-stars, seniors Jordan Stackhouse and Abby Harrington, junior Gillian Russell, and freshman Olivia Lucey.
3. Coaching Changes
The 2016 calendar year also brought some coaching changes as well.
The first two were in the fall with golf and girls’ soccer. Chris Keane and Stephanie Martin took over as head coaches of the varsity golf and girls’ soccer teams.
Martin took over for Jessica Marshall as head coach of the girls’ soccer team. Marshall was the varsity coach for three years and an assistant before that. Keane took over veteran coach Dennis Bisso who retired in May after 16 seasons as head coach.
Martin worked her way up the coaching ranks in Wakefield in soccer. She began as the freshman coach, was promoted to JV coach, then promoted again to assistant varsity coach, and is now head varsity coach.
Prior to her teaching and coaching days in Wakefield, Martin enjoyed an illustrious playing career at Assumption College, where she captained both the Assumption College women’s soccer team and softball team, and earned All-American honors during her senior year.
Martin is the all-time leading goal scorer in Assumption College women’s soccer history. Martin is a member or the NCAA Northeast-10 Conference Athletic Hall of Fame, the Assumption College Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Arlington Catholic Athletic Hall of Fame.
Keane was new to Wakefield, but he is no stranger to golf in the Middlesex League. He is a Woburn native and part of some great Tanner golf teams when he was in high school.
Keane is an experienced golf coach. Most recently, Keane has served as the JV golf coach at Saugus High School, where he oversaw all aspects of the JV program, helped assist with the varsity program, and started up a middle school golf program there.
Since 2009, Keane has worked as a golf clinic instructor, and has run summer youth golf clinics through the Woburn Recreation Department and Woburn Country Club. Keane uses technology to analyze and correct his players’ swings.
A Woburn native, Keane plays daily at his hometown Woburn Country Club, and is a single-digit handicap. During his playing days, Keane was a successful four-year varsity player on the Woburn High School golf team, during which time the Woburn High Tanners won four consecutive Middlesex League championships, and were one of the top teams in the state each year.
Keane wanted to expand and grow the golf program in Wakefield, and had aspirations of someday starting up a Wakefield JV team, and some type of Wakefield youth golf program. Wakefield started up a JV golf team his very first year so that goal was reached quickly.
In addition to Keane’s golf background, he is also a very well-respected teacher and indoor and outdoor track coach at Woburn High School.
There were also two winter head coaches from 2015-16 who aren’t back for the winter of ‘16 and ‘17. The coaches are Lisa Mansfield in girls’ gymnastics and Jack Foley in girls’ hockey
Brianna McNeil takes over a girls’ gymnastics program that is seeking its first victory in three years and which has seen a decline in numbers the past couple of seasons.
McNeil is no stranger to the Middlesex League gymnastics scene. She was a former star gymnast at Woburn High School, and her mother has been the head coach at Stoneham High School for the past 18 years.
McNeil has been coaching at the Reading Gymnastics Academy for the past eight years, where she has worked with gymnasts from all around the area, including many from Wakefield. McNeil has also helped out with her alma mater Woburn High School and her mother’s Stoneham High School team during that time period as well.
McNeil is a recent graduate of Merrimack College, where she earned a degree in Psychology. She is currently pursuing her Masters Degree in mental health, and aspires to be a school psychologist or school mental health professional.
Jason Lawrence, a health teacher at the Galvin Middle School and a North Reading resident, was appointed the new Warrior girls’ hockey coach and took over for Foley who stepped down after 17 years as a head coach and an assistant coach.
Another candidate, Glenn Seabury, was originally appointed to the position. But according to Brendan Kent, K-12 Director of Athletics, Health, and Wellness for the Wakefield Public Schools, Seabury had a conflict with his work and coaching schedule and was unable to commit to the position after all.
Lawrence, 29, played at BU for four years from 2005-09. The Terriers won the NCAA Division 1 Championship in 2009. For his career, he scored 46 goals and had 51 assists for 97 points.
The new coach also played for the USA National Hockey team before embarking on a pro career in the U.S. and Europe.
He played for the Gwinnett Gladiators and Charlotte Checkers from ‘09-’10 in the East Coast Hockey league. He had 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points with the Gladiators and a goal and an assist with the Checkers.
Lawrence then played for Eindhoven Kemphanen in the Hlnd League in the Netherlands from ‘10-’11 and had 28 goals and 26 assists.
Once his playing days were over, he returned to the United States and became a teacher. He taught at Everett High School before coming to Wakefield.
Lawrence was also the head coach for the Everett High boys’ hockey team and is the skills and power skating coach for Elite Skills Hockey and coach of the Boston Junior Bruins program. Lawrence is originally from Saugus.
There is also one head coach’s position to be filled after WMHS varsity girls’ volleyball coach Nicole Trudeau stepped down after four seasons.
Trudeau is leaving the Warriors to coach at the collegiate level. She was an assistant coach for the Women’s Volleyball team at Endicott College this past fall.
Trudeau posted a record of 12-65 as head coach of the Warriors in four seasons of the fledgling program. She coached a total of five years total, but Wakefield had not yet attained varsity status in her first year.
4. League championship teams
There were a number of Warrior teams that won the league championship as well.
Last winter, the boys’ basketball and wrestling teams brought home league championships. The boys’ hoop team went 11-5 in the M.L. Freedom division to repeat as league champs and the wrestling went 4-0 in the division and 14-5 overall.
In wrestling the dual meet season ended with head Ross Ickes two victories away from reaching the 300 win milestone. He achieved that mark in Wakefield’s first two dual meets this season.
During the spring season, the baseball, boys’ lacrosse, and girls’ outdoor track teams all captured Freedom division titles.
The baseball team went 14-2 in the M.L. Freedom division and repeated as league champs under the guidance of third year head coach Keith Forbes. In the clinching game against Melrose, senior right-hander Corey Imbriano threw a no-hitter in a 3-0 Warrior victory.
Also senior catcher and 2015 league MVP Matt Mercurio had all three Wakefield home runs this past spring. One was a walk-off three-run blast against Reading in a game in which he hit two roundtrippers and another was a three-run blast on the road against Melrose in the top of the seventh.
The boys’ lacrosse team went 9-2 in the league and repeated as league champions. The Warriors even topped the success they had in 2015 as far as overall record is concerned. Wakefield went 16-3 overall this past spring for its best season ever.
The girls’ outdoor track team went 5-0 in the league and won its first league championship since 2012 with a convincing 91-45 victory over Burlington in the finale. Wakefield also avenged two previous losses to the Red Devils in ‘14 and ‘15 which resulted in second place finishes for the Warriors both times.
In addition to the cross country teams in the fall, the football team won a share of the M.L. Freedom division title with Watertown and Melrose all three had identical 4-1 league records. Wakefield defeated Watertown, Wilmington, Stoneham, and Burlington, but lost to Melrose on Thanksgiving Day.
5. State Tournament Teams
The Warriors also had numerous state tournament teams over the past year.
In the winter, the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams participated in the postseason. The boys won an overtime thriller against Beverly, 58-57, in a Div. 2 North first round game before losing a sensational well-played overtime contest against top-seeded Salem, 83-79, in the quarterfinals. The girls’ hoop team made the state tournament, but lost to Arlington Catholic in the first round, 57-51.
The wrestling team also had a terrific postseason taking third overall in the Div. 3 North Meet with 10 medalists. Wakefield had two wrestlers place third and fourth in the Div. 3 State Meet and move on to the All-State Meet. Senior Evan Gourville came in fifth overall at the 170 weight class at the all-state meet and competed in the New England Championship Meet.
The boys’ and girls’ indoor track teams competed in the state meets as well along with the boys’ and girls’ outdoor teams. In outdoor track, the boys’ crowned two champs and had many place winners, while the girls’ team had three medalists. Wakefield also competed at the state level and at nationals in the spring as well.
The Warrior baseball team hosted Lynn Classical in its first tournament game and lost 5-4 to the Rams as a tourney victory eluded Wakefield for a second straight year.
Meanwhile, girls’ lacrosse and girls’ tennis teams made the state tournament as well, but lost in the first round. The girls’ lacrosse team lost to Danvers, but still had a historic season with 13 wins, its highest win total in team history. The girl’s tennis team was denied by Wayland, but overcame a 1-7 start to clinch its third straight postseason appearance.
The softball team defeated Bedford, 7-1, in a preliminary round game and took top-seeded Tewksbury to eight innings before being edged, 3-2.
The boys’ lacrosse team defeated Malden Catholic, 16-10, in the quarterfinal round before losing a heartbreaking 17-16 contest against Winchester in double overtime in the semifinals.
The football team made the postseason, but was blanked by Danvers, 28-0, in a Div. 2A North quarterfinal game. Also, the golf team made the Div. 2 North sectional tournament, based upon a 9-8-1 overall record.
6. Harrison, Stevens win olympic medals
Kayla Harrison and Travis Steven, who both trained at Pedro’s Judo Center in Wakefield, both medaled at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janiero in Brazil.
Harrison, who is now a Marblehead resident, was the 2012 Olympic Champion and repeated as champion in the 78 kg division in judo with a second straight gold medal. She is the first American in the sport, male or female, to accomplish just that and the first since Jimmy Pedro, the U.S. Judo team coach, to win multiple medals at the Olympic Games.
She is also the first female Judo competitor outside of Asia to successfully defend her Olympic and the fifth overall since women’s judo became an Olympic sport at the 1992 Barcelona Games.
The 26-year old overcame a major knee injury with reconstructive surgery and had to work hard to repeat. Harrison made history as a result and announced her retirement as well to end her career as a two-time Olympic champion.
Stevens, a Wakefield resident, earned himself a silver medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro in the under 81-kilogram division in Judo.
This was Stevens’ first Olympic medal and his third appearance at an Olympic Games. Stevens is a Bellevue, Wash. native and was an elder statesman of the U.S. Judo team at age 30.
Stevens became the first American since his coach, Pedro, scored a bronze in the 2004 Athens Games and the first U.S. male to win silver since Jason Morris finished second in 1992 in Barcelona.
7. Wakefield, Lynnfield form co-op in boys’ swimming
The Wakefield Memorial High and Lynnfield High formed a co-op team in boys’ swimming. Final approval was given so both schools have athletes competing this winter season.
Both schools’ principals, WMHS Principal Rich Metropolis and LHS Principal Robert Cleary, had already pledged their support along with Wakefield Superintendent Dr. Kim Smith. Also the two schools athletic directors, Wakefield’s Brendan Kent and Lynnfield’s Michael Bierwirth, supported the idea.
Since Lynnfield is the host school it applied for the co-op program. Approval was given by the Cape Ann League, then District A, and then the MIAA.
The team defeated Ipswich by a 100-83 score on Sunday, Dec. 11.
8. Hockey, hoop changes
After nearly 15 years, the Wakefield Memorial High boys’ and girls’ hockey teams decided to no longer call the Kasabuski Arena home. Instead the two Warrior varsity teams are playing their home games at the Stoneham Arena and the Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington.
Even though both rinks are further away, both venues are beneficial playing surfaces for the Warriors.
The boys will play seven home games at Stoneham and four at the Ristuccia. Wakefield also will be the visiting team twice at the Stoneham Arena and once at Wilmington.
The girls will play nine home games at the Stoneham Arena and two home games at the Ristuccia Arena. The Warriors also will be the away team once at each venue.
For the boys’ program, it is a return to a former home as the Warriors played their home games at the Stoneham Arena in the early 1990s until moving to the Burbank Arena in Reading for several years when that venue first opened.
The decision to switch the basketball schedules from single site doubleheaders, back to a boys and girls home/road alternating schedule came down in a near unanimous vote before the season. Wakefield was one of the schools that voted against the change.
The Warriors were in that position in 2012-13 as well when the athletic directors voted to have the boys’ and girls’ teams play at opposite sites. The crowds were down at many venues in the M.L. and the A.D.s voted to back to the old format the next season with a tweak in the schedule. The boys’ teams played the early game in the first half of the season while the girls’ played the late game. The starting times then switched around for the second half of the season so it was equitable to both the boys’ and girls’ teams.
The change effects the JV and freshman levels as well. There is now a freshman game before the JV and varsity games.
While the Friday night varsity games will have 7 p.m. starts, the weeknight games, mostly Tuesday night contests, will have an earlier start with tip-offs at 6 p.m. The JV games will also also start earlier on school nights as well.
9. Summer Teams Excel
The summer baseball and softball teams at the men’s, women’s, and youth levels all had seasons to remember in the Intercity League, Twi-League, Lou Tompkins All-Star Baseball League, Middlesex Senior Babe Ruth League, Little League, and town softball leagues.
There were town champions crowned in Little League at all levels. There were champs crowned in Twi-League and town softball leagues. Two of the Townies teams made their respective playoffs as well.
The All-Star teams in Little League baseball and softball all represented the town well and several had great runs in District and State Tournament play.
There are so many summer ball teams it is difficult to highlight one or two of them. So all the summer ballclubs are included in this section.
10. Youth Teams Excel
The youth teams in all the various sports also had terrific years in 2016. Many of the baseball and softball teams have already been acknowledged. But the youth players in basketball, hockey, lacrosse, football, and soccer teams as well as other youth sports not mentioned here all had memorable moments.
Also, Wakefield Youth Football/Cheering made its debut this year in a new league, the Commonwealth Youth Football Conference. The year was nothing less than a success. Wakefield had multiple teams participating deep into the playoffs and its cheering teams competing with success as well.
No one was better than the Seventh/Eighth Grade Warriors who were crowned the Super Bowl champs by edging Salem in overtime, 16-14, on Sunday, Nov. 20 at Bentley University in Waltham.
Like the many summer ball teams it is difficult to highlight more than one or two youth sports or one or two teams. So all the youth sports are included in this section.
It was quite a year for Wakefield sports and many memories were created by the athletes in the community. It’s a good bet that 2017 should be just as exciting.
