Another relay win for Burlington boys
Wilmington takes girls competition
PEMBROKE — There are plenty of meets on the winter and spring calendars that Burlington boys track coach Matt Carr gets his Red Devils amped up for, but none are bigger than the state relays. Burlington proved it was ready to compete at yesterday’s MSTCA Div. 4 Relays in perfect, sunsplashed conditions.
The Red Devils picked up a pair of wins on the way to capturing the team competition with 75 points. A tough Newburyport team was second with 63 points and Pembroke took third with 55 points on its home track. The Burlington win was the ninth in the last 13 in state relay competition, including the indoor campaign. “This is always my favorite meet of the year,” said Carr, who has been a part of the Burlington track program since 1994. “If I had to pick a meet to win it would be this one. I love it. I love when the kids do well here.”
div. 4 state relays
Led by the foursome of Anthony Minichiello, Paul Conti, Joey Gaiero and Eric Sekyaya, Burlington notched the gold medal in the 4x800 meters in a swift 8:47.68.
The Red Devils picked up 10 more points in the distance medley with Conti, Colin Irwin, Pat Grey and Rithikh Prakash bolting to an 11:16.81 victory, and also picked up silver medals in the pole vault (26-6), javelin (112.08 meters), shot put (36.60 meters) and discus (97.97 meters).
“The goal was to win the meet,” said Carr. “That was very clear. We knew the distances and throws would be where we scored.”
Wilmington saw to it that the team competition on the girls’ side wasn’t nearly intriguing as the Wildcats decimated the field with a whopping 86 points.
That total put them well in front of Medfield and Holliston, who finished in a tie for second with 53 points.
Celia Kulis and Kayla Flynn paced the deep squad and were part of victories in the high jump (4.59 meters), shuttle hurdles (1:12.30) and triple jump (29.89 meters). Sarah LaVita had the best performances of the day in both the javelin (32.70 meters) and discus (31.61 meters).
“I felt like we had a good shot,” said head coach Joe Patrone. “It was a goal coming in this season. I had a feeling they’d do awesome.”
And after finishing second in the indoor Div. 4 championships held this winter, Wilmington is looking to move up a place outdoors.
“We want a shot at that too,” Patrone said.