Special Coverage by Jeff Bartlett
NEC Meet Recap
The Northeastern Conference Championship Meet took place on Saturday at Manning Bowl in Lynn, Massachusetts. The twelve schools within the conference took to the track, circles, and runways in a battle with the top six scorers in each event earning points. Following a 1-1-1 participation rule, and with each school only allowed two entries per event, the meet is always an interesting take on what has happened between teams during the dual meet season.
At the end of the day, the Beverly girls captured the NEC Meet with 116.33 points. Beverly senior Kristen O'Connor won two individual events and helped the 4x400 relay place first to highlight the day for the Panthers. The Peabody boys continued their NEC streak with another victory, scoring 171 points; the Peabody boys took either first or second in twelve events during the meet. The meet had an exciting conclusion with the boys' 4x400 meter relay, when going into the anchor leg saw Gloucester's Everest Crawford taking on Marblehead's AJ Ernst. Ernst edged out Crawford at the end, helping Marblehead win the relay with a time of 3:31.11. Gloucester was later DQ'd in the relay.
Beginning with the distance events, the girls' two mile saw many returning veterans and a few new faces, at least to the NEC. Gloucester's Fiona Davis set the pace early, but Beverly senior Nicole Demars would throw in a huge surge with a half mile to go to take the victory (11:24), followed by Peabody's Antonia Pagliuuca (11:33), and Davis (11:38). For the boys, Swampscott senior and indoor All-State Champion Matt Mahoney led wire to wire. Mahoney cruised at the front before dropping a surge during lap five and cruising into victory with a 9:38. Peabody freshman Marcelo Rocha continued to show the conference and the state that he has a promising few years ahead, claiming the runner up spot in an impressive 9:46. Teammate Ben Braz rounded out the top three (9:55).
In the 400 hurdles, Beverly senior Kristen O'Connor took home the win with a time of 64.34. She would also win the triple jump (35'9") and help Beverly win the 4x400 relay. Peabody's Cynthia Aroke (65.36) and Marblehead's Carlyn McGrath (68.73) rounded out the top three. For the boys, Marblehead senior Conrad Rousseau began his day with a victory, running 58.58. Rousseau would also help Marblehead win the 4x400 relay and placed fourth in the triple jump (39'9"). Marblehead picked up a big second place in the low hurdles with a time of 60.49.
The one mile on both sides saw All-State qualifiers battle for time and place. Gloucester's Olivia Lantz (5:06) held off Marblehead senior Janaya Randall (5:13) and Peabody senior Sam Allen (5:20) for the victory. Soon after, Peabody senior Drew Fossa and Marblehead sophomore AJ Ernst were dueling at the front of the pack in the boys' mile. With only James Bailey of Danvers chasing during the first lap, the two quickly separated themselves from the field. Fossa drove the pace for three laps before Ernst took over at the bell. Both earned fantastic times as a result of their efforts, as Ernst (4:20), Fossa (4:24), and Peabody junior Jason Karakaedos (4:40) rounding out the top three.
In the 400 meters, Beverly's Caitlyn Harty broke the sixty second meter barrier with her first place finish of 58.90. Swampscott's Aisling Dennehy (60.90) and Peabody's Macayla Lachance (61.90) were also in the top three. Marblehead's Chris Brady (51.92) and the Peabody duo of Rocco Cimino (52.38) and Owen Brewster (52.72) took the top three spots for the boys. In the 200 meters, Marblehead's Monica Thorne (26.87), Lynn Classical's Jennifer Gaudet (27.35), and Revere's Comfort Toglan (27.62) were top three. Danvers High School's John Thomas won by a large margin with his time of 22.80. Thomas was followed by Lynn English's Peter Matu (23.69) and Swampscott's Maleek Newsome (23.80). Jerry Canada of Salem took the 100 hurdles (15.05), followed by Jared Marshall of Gloucester (15.13) and Christian Cedullo of Peabody (15.41). Danvers sophomore Erin St. Pierre was victorious in the 100 meter hurdles (16.19); Caroly O'Keefe of Winthrop (16.52) and Yailen Almente of Salem (17.35) rounded out the top three. Peabody's Victor Teixeira (11.35) and Zachary Gross (11.38) were a 1-2 punch in the 100; followed by Chris Behen of Danvers (11.54). Gloria Kabulo of Gloucester was victorious for the girls with a time of 13.00, followed by Agnes Bangura (Lynn Classical, 13.08) and Princess Guwor (13.42).
In field events, Angela Caldarone (Danvers, 17'3"), Caitlyn Harty (Beverly, 17'2"), and Erin St. Pierre (Danvers, 16'6.75") took the top three spots in the long jump. Daekwon Sheperd (Lynn English, 20'3.25"), Michael Shanahan (Peabody, 19'7.25"), and Taron Wigfall (Salem, 19'0.50") taking the top three for the boys. Peabody's Kevin Guzman (40'9") won the triple jump, followed by Kenny Khun (Lynn Classical, 40'1.50") and Hugh Calice (Lynn English, 39'9.50"). For the girls, Kristen O'Connor (Beverly, 35'9"), Monica Thorne (Marblehead, 35'9"), and Sophia Cawlina (Danvers, 34'10") rounded out the top three. Lily Cummings (Marblehead, 5'0") took the high jump, followed by Michelle Connor (Swampscott, 4'10") and Rachel Barrett (Peabody, 4'8"). Tarik Maddrey (Revere, 6'2") won for the boys, followed by Mitch Norcross (Marblehead, 6'0") and CJ Hernandez (Lynn English, 6'0").
In the throwing events, Swampscott senior Justin Chasse won the shot put (48'10.50"), followed by Anthony Christo (Peabody, 46'0") and Dan Marino (Marblehead, 45'6"). For the girls, Isis Bryant of Lynn Classical (30'2.50"), Grace Sparkman (Beverly, 30'2"), and Katie Gallo (Peabody, 30'0") finished in the top three. The discus was won by Hannah Pastagal (Gloucester, 96'04"), with Maria Travascio (Swampscott, 92'11") and Rachel Spencer (Beverly, 87'0") finishing second and third. Macus Vieira (Peabody, 141'02"), Noah Hillier (Gloucester, 136'07"), and Ariel Ayala (Peabody, 134'06") finished top three for the boys. Swampscott's Shauna King (104'04") won the javelin, with Julia Lothrop (Marblehead, 104'03") an inch behind. Marycate Flaherty (Beverly, 92'05") finished third. Ian McIver of Marblehead (160'07') was victorious for the boys, followed by Aidan Brawley (Swampscott, 157'11") and Manny Vieira (Peabody, 156'02).
The Beverly girls dominated the 4x800 with a time of 9:56, followed by Marblehead (10:13) and Gloucester (10:23). The Peabody boys (8:32) took top honors, followed by Swampscott (8:46.01) and Gloucester (8:46.27). Lynn Classical took the girls' 4x100 with a time of 51.87. Lynn English (52.48) and Marblehead (52.67) were right behind. The Peabody boys took the 4x100 (44.16), followed by Lynn Classical (457.2) and Danvers (45.75). Lastly, the 4x400 saw the Beverly girls dominate (4:02), followed by Peabody (4:18) and Swampscott (4:26). Marblehead (3:31) finished ahead of Peabody (3:34) and Lynn English (3:46) for the boys.