NORTH ANDOVER — For the second season in a row, the Wakefield Warriors outdoor boys’ track and field team was victorious at the MIAA Division 4 State Championship as they scored a combined 74 points across 19 events on Friday and Sunday at Merrimack College to win the championship. This was the third title in the last four years as the Warriors also won the championship in 2022 and 2024.
Pembroke was a close second with 66 points. Burlington and Ludlow each had 53 points to tie for 3rd.
Typically, track meets end with the thrilling 4×400 meter relay, but this one had a different kind of drama. Due to repeated delays caused by issues with the long jump runway, the long jump ended up being the deciding event. The meet was tied at 66 points between Wakefield and Pembroke. Everything came down to one final event — and one athlete.
JaMauri Belmer stepped up for his attempt, fully aware the outcome rested on his shoulders. In a defining moment, he soared through the air and landed a monstrous jump of 23 feet, 6.75 inches. The crowd erupted. Not only did Belmer secure the eight points needed to clinch the team victory, but he also set a new school record, qualified for nationals and posted the second-best jump in all of Massachusetts this season.
On Friday, the meet kicked off with the pole vault crew putting up a significant 15 points to help tie the Warriors for the lead with Pembroke at 29 points each after day one. Henry Brown placed 2nd with a clearance of 12 feet. Ryan Hogan was 3rd clearing 11’6”. Jimmy Fabbri was 8th with 10 feet.
In the 400 meter hurdles, Brody Wyatt took 3rd place with a time of 57.43. Sophomore Evan Buonopane-Cohen placed 10th in a time of 60.10. Aidan Martin was 15th in 61.67.
Belmer placed 4th in the triple jump by jumping 43’4.5”.
In the 800 meters, Ethan Mezikofsky placed 6th with a personal best time of 1:57.67.
In the 200 meters, sophomore Jackson Conley was 9th, less than a tenth of a second from making the finals with his time of 23.12.
In the 2 mile, Andrew Nett ran a time of 9:58.61 placing 12th. Brandon Nett placed 13th running a solo 10:06.79 from his heat. Devin DeBeradinis placed 17th in a time of 10:15.64. George Palmer was 18th with a personal best of 10:19.36. Max Viselli placed 21st in a time of 10:27.73.
In the discus, Frankie Sullivan threw 109’6” to place 30th.
On day two, the meet started off with a tie between Wakefield and Pembroke but with a handful of other teams only a few points behind.
In the 400 meters, Wyatt placed 7th from the slower heat running a personal best of 51.06 from lane 8. Isaac Melo placed 8th from lane 8 in the fast heat with a personal best of 51.27. Conley also had a personal best of 52.48 to place 13th.
In the shot put, Sullivan had a throw of 47’7.25 and was 7th overall. Carter Jefferson threw 35’8” placing 25th.
In the javelin, Jefferson had a personal best throw of 157’11 to place 4th overall and Adam Levy had a personal best throw of 140’8 to place 8th overall. Henry Brown threw 139’ to place 10th. Sean Callanan placed 17th with a threw of 122’10”.
In the high jump, Belmer tied his personal best of 6’2 to place 3rd.
In the mile, Alec Buonopane-Cohen placed 20th with a time of 4:42.29. Max Viselli was 26th with a time of 4:46.22.
The 4×100 meter relay team of Edgard Meneguello, Adam Levy, Isaac Melo and Aiden Jones ran a time of 44.85 and was 7th overall.
The 4×800 meter relay team of Aidan Burd, Andrew and Brandon Nett, and Mezikofsky placed 2nd with a time of 8:17. 68.
In earlier flights of the long jump, Aiden Jones placed 20th leaping 20’4.75” and Mike Mititchev in 35th jumping 19’4.5”.
The 4×400 meter relay team of Meneguello, Melo, Mezikofsky and Wyatt had the only win of the meet with a time of 3:30.12 in order to tie the meet up against Pembroke and as both teams distanced themselves from the rest of the competition with just the long jump waiting to be the determining factor.
Belmer worked well under pressure scoring big in his third event of the weekend and the Warriors went home as champions.
“I recently came across a quote attributed to an anonymous Navy SEAL that perfectly sums up our season: ‘Under pressure, you don’t rise to the occasion— you sink to the level of your training,’” said head coach Ruben Reinoso.
“Our athletes were resilient, facing off against some of the best teams in Massachusetts. Time and again, they focused on what needed to be done and delivered — because of the level of their training, their hard work, their attention to detail and their determination.
“I want to thank our athletes, especially our seniors for all that they have done for our program. I also want to thank all of our coaches, Perry Pappas, Marcia Veale, David Lee and Krista Buck, for the tremendous work that they do with each and every one of our athletes.”
Up next is the Meet of Champions on Thursday and Saturday at Fitchburg State University.