THE MHS boys track team picked up a big win over Watertown last week. Pictured from left to right: Melrose’s Adam Caldwell, Ellis lurilli Hough, Watertown runner Max Bennett, and Caleb Barnes. (courtesy photo)
Melrose kicks season off by dominating Watertown
By JENNIFER GENTILE
BOSTON—The Melrose High boy’s indoor track team kicked off their winter season last week with an overwhelming win against Watertown at The Track at New Balance in Brighton. Melrose swept nearly every event and took a very convincing 88-11 win over the Raiders to begin their season 1-0.
Melrose has a nice blend of senior leadership and solid underclass potential. They will be captained by seniors Ellis lurilli-Hough, Jack Claeys and Russell O’Donnell.
Against Watertown, Melrose started the day by sweeping the 600m behind the work of Russell O’Donnell, Sam O’Donnell and Pablo Lemon Camara. Then also swept the 1000 with strong finishes by Jonah Tully, John Strong, Henry McCormack and Jad Jamaleddine.
Like many years, Melrose will see strength in distance running and that was the case against the Raiders, with Ellis lurilli-Hough placing first in the mile followed by Caleb Barnes and Adam Caldwell. Caleb Barnes also prevailed in the 2-mile.
Melrose head coach Tim Morris noted that mid to long distance running remains Melrose’s strength. “With Ellis and Caleb, we probably have a little more depth in mid distance and sprints,” he says. “We swept a lot of events so there’s depth there.”
In the 300 Melrose saw top two finishes from Trentyn Hodges and Filip Ilic. Sprinting events also proved strong for Melrose. In the 55 dash they saw a win by Tyler Lecomte (followed by finishes from Sebastian Fiole, Kiran Thomas and Jack Morrisey) and in the 55 hurdles Melrose saw Gabe Buffonge take first place followed by Giancarlo Martinis Torres.
And relays took the day. Melrose prevailed in both the 4×400 and the 4×200 thanks to the work of Caleb Barnes, Ellis lurilli-Hough, Russell O’Donnell and Sam O’Donnell (4×4) and Tyler Lecomte, Kiran Thomas, Sam Madden and Trentyn Hodges (4×2).
Field events went swimmingly for Melrose with Brandan Radzik and Trentyn Hodges placing first and second respectively in the long jump. High jump was won thanks to work from Sebastian Fiole. And long jump work was met by a first-place finish from Brandon Radzik and Trentyn Hodges. Shot put was very well represented behind the efforts of first place JD Labarbera, Jack Claeys, Charly Krygowski and Jack McAree.
Melrose would love to make their mark on the Middlesex Freedom league this season and they have a big meet this week against Wakefield (post deadline) on Thursday that will be considered a must-win, should they want to vie for a league title. After that comes Burlington, who they will look to close out the year victoriously against on Dec 30.