Published June 17, 2021
NORTH READING — For the sixth time in school history, the NRHS boys’ spring track team captured the CAL regular season title as they finished their campaign with a 7-0 record after a decisive 110-30 victory over Lynnfield.
“This is a special moment for the program,” said head coach Ryan Spinney. “Our teams from 1966, 1968, 2013, 2016 and 2017 now have company at the top of the mountain. This 2021 team is one of the finest we have ever fielded. I couldn’t be prouder of this group of athletes and coaches.”
North Reading captured 14 first place finishes against Lynnfield out of the 17 events to dominate the meet. Following those were 10 second place finishes and 10 third place efforts to complete the scoring. In the hurdling events, the Hornets captured 1st and 2nd places in each as Senior Captain Jack Murphy and Freshman Brandon Eng took home those honors in the 400 Meter Hurdles with times of 62.2 and 63.5 respectively and Junior Jake Mikulski and Eng took 1-2 in the 110 Meter Hurdles in times of 17.7 and 18.3 respectively.
“Jack has been a force all year in many events and so has Jake, but Brandon has emerged as a big part of the hurdle future of our team,” said Spinney. “He has improved immensely and will be a force over the rest of his high school career. Coach Kirsten MacLellan is so proud of how far the hurdlers have come. “
In the Throwing events, the Hornets took 24 out of a possible 27 points as they swept both Discus and Javelin, and took 1st and 3rd in Shot Put. Leading the Discus crew once again was Junior Casey O’Connor who won with a throw of 122’ 5”. Seniors Zach Sampson and Will O’Leary took 2nd and 3rd with throws of 112’ 7.5” and 93’ 3.5” respectively. In Javelin, Senior Captain Peter Wyatt once again led the way with his winning throw of 143’ 7”. Sophomore Garrett Arden and Senior Jack Donohue were close behind for 2nd and 3rd places with throws of 139’ 10” and 132’ 10” respectively. In the Shot Put, Sampson finished his undefeated season with a heave of 45’ 6.5” to take the victory and O’Connor took 3rd with a toss of 36’ 0.5”.
“I can’t stress enough how amazing our throws group has been this season,” said Spinney. “They have been a major reason for our team’s success throughout our regular season campaign. Coaches Andrew Falanga, Tom Ledoux and Hornet throwing alumni Will Carpenter, have done an amazing job helping these young athletes mold themselves into a force to be reckoned with both at the league and state level.”
In the sprinting events, the Hornets once again held off the Pioneers as they took top places in the 100, 200 and 400 Meter events to pull away early in the meet. In the 100 Meter Dash, Senior Captain Grayson Budny took first in a time of 11.4 and Junior Alex Carpenter took 3rd in a time of 11.9. In the 200, Senior Captain Ryan Good took first in a time of 23.3 and Junior Quinn Riesenberg took 3rd in a time of 24.2. In the 400 Meter run, Junior Spencer Beane took 1st in a time of 54.6 and Senior Kyle Rabbitt took 2nd in a time of 56.7.
“This group has been excellent all season. Coach Pintzopoulos and Coach Rocco have done a great job preparing our sprint squad this spring. Each meet we have got stronger and faster and we are coming into our own right at the end of the season.”
In the jumps and vault, the Hornets led the way again dominating across the board. In the Pole Vault, Murphy, Carpenter and Junior Patrick Tannian swept the top three places with heights of 13’ 6”, 12’ 6” and 9’ 6” respectively. Sophomore Jacob Duval took 1st in the High Jump and Mikulski took 3rd with heights of 5’ 8” and 5’ 6” respectively. Good and Budny took 1st and 3rd in the Long Jump with 19’4” and 18’ 7.5” jumps respectively. Riesenberg rounded out the jumps with a 2nd place effort in the Triple Jump with a jump of 37’ 4.5”.
In the distance events, the Hornets swept the 1 Mile, led by Junior Aidan Nadeau who won in a time of 5:08.9. Sophomores Nick Fabrizio and Brady Miller took 2nd and 3rd with times of 5:13.3 and 5:14.3 respectively. In the 2 mile, Junior Anthony Petrosino and Sophomore Brodie Mann took 1st and 2nd overall in times of 11:43.2 and 11:59.0 respectively. In the 800 Meter Run, Senior Henry Pelmas took 2nd in 2:19.9 and Sophomore Ben Meier took 3rd in 2:22.3.
“This group has really come together over the course of the season. So many young runners are stepping up and contributing across the board. They are a privilege to work with every single day and it is so wonderful to see the smiles on their faces when they improve their personal bests,” said Spinney.
The 4 x 100 Meter relay continued their successful season as they won in a time of 45.1. The team of Carpenter, Donohue, Good and Budny have been exceptional all season long. The featured fun event of the day was the “Throwing Relay (4×100),” which was composed of all throwers and no sprinters, and the Hornets won that exhibition event in a quick time of 49.8. Wyatt, O’Leary, Sampson and O’Connor took the title of the Champion in a very impressive fun race.
Takes home the CAL Open Title
The Hornets capped off a perfect CAL schedule as they took home the title of League Open Champion with a total score of 137 points at the CAL Open Championship Meet on June 12 at Pentucket. They overcame hard charging Amesbury, who took second with a score of 130 points.
“This is an absolutely amazing accomplishment for this group of young athletes,” said Spinney. “They had a goal all year to win the CAL slate and it was awesome to see them rise to the occasion and do it today. It took their very best and they did it.”
The Hornets also had another three vaulters in the event with Junior Jason Ciulla, and Sophomores Rocco Tammaro and Vincent Pastore in the event. Ciulla and Tammaro cleared 8’ 6”, and Pastore cleared 8’ 0”.
The Hornets scored a total of 76 points in the field events and 61 points in the running events to get to their total of 137. The biggest point scoring event for the Hornets was the Pole Vault, as the vaulting trio of Alex Carpenter, Jack Murphy and Patrick Tannian took care of business as they swept the top three places to give the Hornets 24 points. Carpenter cleared 13’ 0” and is the CAL Open Champion. Murphy cleared 11’ 0” and Tannian 10’ 0” to finish off the podium positions.
The next event that the Hornets had a great day in was the Javelin as Sophomore Garrett Arden, Senior Captain Peter Wyatt and Senior Jack Donohue took 1st, 2nd and 5th places overall for a total of 20 points for the team score.
The Hornets had two individual league open champions on Saturday. Senior Zach Sampson won the Shot Put with a meet best toss of 43’ 7.5”. Senior Captain Grayson Budny won the 100 Meter Dash and is the fastest sprinter in the league as he won the event in a time of 11.356 which was literally a hair ahead of second place. Others who competed in the Shot Put included Junior Casey O’Connor (37’ 7”), Senior Captain Peter Wyatt (37’ 2”), Sophomore Garrett Arden (33’ 5.5”) and Senior Will O’Leary (32’ 1.5”).
Junior Aidan Nadeau ran a solid 2 Mile time as he took 2nd overall in a time of 10:08.83, which is now 7th all time in NRHS history.
Fellow Juniors Casey O’Connor and Spencer Beane stepped up huge for the Hornets as they had season bests in their respective events and both took home second places. O’Connor took 2nd in the Discus with a toss of 129’ 1” and Beane took 2nd in the 400 Meter Dash in a time of 52.62, which is now 9th all time in NRHS history.
Others in Discus included Zach Sampson, who took 5th overall with a toss of 105’ 1”. Senior Will O’Leary (77’ 2”) and Junior Patrick Tannian (87’ 4”) also competed in the event. Senior Kyle Rabbitt also competed in the 400 Meter Dash and finished in a time of 56.80.
A number of third overall places were claimed by the Hornets as Senior Captain Ryan Good took 3rd in the 200 Meter Dash in a time of 23.64 in the trials and 23.70 in the finals, Senior Captain Jack Murphy took 3rd in the 800 Meter Run (2:02.96) which is a top 10 time in school history and he also took 3rd in the 400 Meter Hurdles in a time of 59.9.
Sophomore Jacob Duval took 4th overall in the High Jump with a leap of 5’ 8”.
Junior John Jennings and Eng took 4th and 6th respectively in the 400 Meter Hurdles as they ran 61.05 and 62.54, which are good for 7th and 10th all time marks in school history for the event.
The rest of the points came from the Hornet relays in the 4 x 100 Meter, 4 x 400 Meter and 4 x 800 Meter events. The 4 x 100 Meter Relay of Carpenter, Donohue, Good and Budny took 2nd place in a time of 45.13. The 4 x 400 Meter Relay of Beane, Rabbitt, Jennings and Nadeau took 4th in a time of 3:44.30 and the 4 x 800 Meter Relay of Nadeau, Sophomore Ben Meier, Junior Anthony Petrosino and Senior Henry Pelmas took 4th as well in a time 9:01.36.
“This season of success required the very best of all of us involved. The athletes, coaches, and parents all worked so well together and the success of the group speaks for itself. This is truly the high point of a very trying year,” said Spinney. The Hornets will be moving on to the MIAA Division 2 State Divisional Championship on Thursday and Sunday this weekend at Weston HS.