Old Rochester boys, North Reading girls rule
ROXBURY >> Without much of the depth the other top teams held across multiple events, the Old Rochester boys indoor track and field team knew it needed big performances from its relays in order to finish around the top three of the Div. 4 state championships Wednesday night.
What it got was a miraculous 10-second personal best from its 1,600-meter relay team to take home the title in a suspenseful comeback at the historic Reggie Lewis Center.
Tied for fourth place and trailing only three points from first with one race to go, Wesner Archelus, Calder Eaton, Phillip LeGassick and Sam Balsis ran their fastest relay ever (3:34.88 time) to catapult the Bulldogs to a first-place finish in the event despite being seeded ninth entering the day. As a result, Old Rochester edged reigning champion Newburyport 43 points compared to 39, propelling the Bulldogs to their first title since 2017.
Tewksbury held the narrow lead with the one event to go, finishing tied for third with North Reading (36 points).
“We knew were going to score some points in the relays,” said Old Rochester cocoach Bill Tilden. “We knew there was an opportunity there. … I didn’t think it was going to be that tight.”
“It’s amazing how we did it,” added fellow co-coach Cindy Tilden. “We have no high jump athletes here, we had no long jump athletes here. … It’s exciting. I thought we would get maybe third.”
The effort immediately followed the 3,200-meter relay team winning its event with an 8:18.43 time, pairing nicely with Murray Copps’ win in the one mile run (4:34.50) to put Old Rochester in position.
All of it was needed against a deep Newburyport, which saw Ethan Downs win the 1,000-meter run (2:36.34) and Ean Hynes take the 55-meter hurdles (7.73 seconds). Tewksbury challenged with topthree finishes from Alex Arbogast in the 55-meter (6.54) and 300-meter runs (36.39) and Nick Alvarado in the 1,000-meter run (2:36.73). North Reading featured the boys meet’s lone double-winner in Nathan Miller, too, between the 300-meter run (35.63) and 800-meter relay (1:32.45).
Bishop Stang wasn’t in contention as a team, but was well-represented by Kansascommit Jacob Cookinham in the shot put again. He not only defended his crown from last year, but his 67-foot, half-inch toss also beat the next best throw by more than 20 feet. He also broke the meet record by more than four inches.
The girls Div. 4 state champion didn’t need as much of a special performance from its relay teams to take the title, as North Reading rode a star performance from Giuliana Ligor and an overwhelmingly deep showing to secure its first title in four years.
Ligor was the girl meet’s lone double-winner, while the Hornets produced points in every event but three en route to a score of 69 points. Whitinsville Christian finished second with 55 points, while reigning champion Holliston took third (46 points) and Middleboro placed fourth (36 points).
“It feels great, I’m excited,” said North Reading coach Sotirios Pintzopoulos. “We were able to do it with just hard work, all year. … As a team, we executed. I have no complaints, I’m incredibly proud of how these ladies performed.”
Pintzopoulos felt he couldn’t label one MVP in the effort, but Ligor would be a good candidate by winning the 600-meter run (1:38.63), contributing toward the win in the 800-meter relay (1:46.33), and taking second in the 300-meter run (40.66).
Still, top-six finishes from Annalise Butler in the one mile run (5:32.66) and two mile run (11:59.17), as well as Madison Vant in the 55-meter hurdles (9:02) led a well-balanced effort.
“We scored in almost every event,” Pintzopoulos said. “We’re a deep team. … We had incredible performances from several girls.”