Tops Watertown in season opener to start 1-0
By JENNIFER GENTILE
BRIGHTON—The Melrose High boys indoor track team opened their season with a big win over Watertown on Dec. 14 at the Track at New Balance in Brighton, by an overwhelming 92-6 score.
Melrose is off to a 1-0 record with Burlington on top this Thursday (post deadline).
Melrose overwhelmed the Raiders in just about every event and saw strong showings in distance and field events, sweeping many and having some top times among all league opponents in events like the 55 dash 300 dash.
Leading the team as captains this season are Sam O’Donnell, Caleb Barnes, Brendan Radzik and Ben Cassavoy.
“This is a good group,” confirms Melrose head coach Tim Morris. The roster features as solid blend of long distance, sprint and field athletes from other sports that has made Melrose likely a team to beat in the Middlesex League.
Melrose started off strong with a total dominating performance against Watertown last week. They swept the 55 dash behind the work of Tommy McElligott, Tyler Lecomte, Sebastian Fiote and Keegan Moloney.
Brendan Radzik put the league on notice that he will be the one to beat in the 300 dash with a second place finish among all ML competitors and a time of 37.61. Teammate Jevon Ssebugawawo was right behind him at 38.77, good enough for 10th in Melrose’s 1-2 sweep over Watertown. Senior captain Sam O’Donnell was Melrose’s best time in the 600 and the team swept the event behind work of Matt Sarnoski and Jonah Tully. Melrose saw strong runs in the 1000m behind work from Adam Caldwell, John Strong and Anderson Ji. And in the one mile, Melrose swept the event thanks for finishes by Caleb Barnes, Henry McCormack and Jad Jamaleddine, in that order. Melrose also swept the top 2 spots in the 2-mile on the legs of Ben Dugan and William Oldham.
Melrose showed that hurdles will be a good event this winter, thanks to Giancarlo Torres-Martinis, who placed 7th in the entire league and was followed by Max Lanciani at 20th.
Melrose’s 4×200 relay team also was among the best in the league with a fourth place finish, thanks to the work of Brendan Radzik, Tyler Lecomte, Sebastian Fiote and Tom McElligot. Melrose’s 4×400 relay team also topped Watertown thanks to runs from Sam O’Donnell, Jevon Ssebugwawo, Adam Caldwell and Jonah Tully.
And Melrose showed that high jump and long jump may be a strength with a 6th place finish in the league by Max Lanciani, 9th from Charlie Finocchiaro, followed by Sebastian Fiote. Melrose also enjoyed a great 4th place finish by Brendan Radzik in the long jump.
After competing against Burlington this week, Melrose will enjoy a must see meet against rival Wakefield on Thursday, Dec. 28 at the New Balance Center in what could help determine the league. Stay tuned.