North Reading sweeps up again
NORTH READING — Yesterday was ripe for a repeat for the North Reading track teams.
For the second consecutive year, both the Hornets girls and boys squads earned the Division 4 Coaches Relays championships in impressive fashion on their home Arthur J. Kenney Field.
“We came in today wanting to win both,” North Reading girls coach Sotirios Pintzopoulos said. “We won both last year and we wanted to win again this year.”
The girls title came down to a Cape Ann League battle, as runner-up Amesbury ruled the track events with victories in the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400. But North Reading leapt forward in the field events, earning wins in the pole vault, long jump and triple jump, allowing the Hornets to jump ahead of their league foe, 70-54. Steady work throughout both sides of the meet brought Old Rochester into third with 52 points.
“I think it shows how hard our league is and how tough our dual meets are,” North Reading’s Claire Finnegan said. “I think it was a confidence booster going into these next few meets, that we could really take the league title. It’s something for us to work toward.”
Due to a problem with the discus results, Amesbury boarded their bus without knowing where it exactly finished, but was pleased with what it put out there at this halfway point of the season.
“We did really well on the track. We kind of hung on in the field events,” Indians coach Ernie Bissaillon said. “Despite the weather at the end, we had a good performance.”
The 4x100 shuttle hurdle was the clincher for the North Reading boys. The Hornets A and B teams finished 1-2 in the event, leading them to a 78-41 victory over second-place Old Rochester.
“We literally have the best two teams of hurdles in Div. 4,” North Reading boys coach Ryan Spinney said. “That’s a testament to (hurdles) coach (Kirsten) McClellan and what she does.”
Old Rochester boosted itself from fifth place in last year’s meet with strong showings on the track and wins in long jump and javelin to solidify the runner-up spot. In a surprise, Amesbury took third on the boys side thanks to third-place finishes in the distance medley and 4x1600.