The heartbreaker of a near indoor state crown this past winter season could be erased in a few more weeks for the boys of Norton High.
The Lancers made it clear on Saturday they should be listed as a legit contender for the outdoor state title with an impressive victory at the MSTCA Division 4 Spring Relays. With a dominant display on the track, Norton claimed its second straight team title with a 63-55 decision over second-place Newburyport.
To add to the celebration, the Norton girls also went home with the top prize, narrowly defeating North Reading, 71-66.
On a steamy hot afternoon at Bellingham, the Lancer boys gained most of their steam once it hit the track. Norton claimed one victory in the field events with its javelin squad taking first with a combined distance of 427 feet, 3 inches. But in five of the seven events that they competed on the oval, the Lancers took gold in four of them and was a runner-up in the other.
“We came out with 48 points just on the track. Hats off to them guys," said head coach Kent Taylor. “It's just an incredible team. They all work hard every day in practice. We just have a lot of kids that work really hard and I could not be more proud. This never gets old. It's really hard to go back-to-back years. It's incredible. I know the guys are psyched right now."
Norton captured the 4x200-meter relay with a Div. 4 meet record of 1 minutes, 29.62 seconds. The Lancers also won the 4x100m (44.0), the 4x800m (8:26.49) and the shuttle hurdle (1:04.80) relays. The victors capped off the meet by taking second in the 4x400m (3:32.04) relay.
Back in February, Norton was a half a point from winning the Div. 4 state title against winner, Northampton. With a full slate of events and the team concept that's created with a relay event, the Spring Relays often acts as a good indicator as to how teams will fare at the state level.
After his team secured their second crown on Saturday, Taylor talked about what it would mean to him if his Lancers could get the job done this spring at Norwell on May 31.
“To win this one it means so much. You need all that depth. You need all your teammates. It's pretty darn exciting," said the eight-year coach. “In terms of state championship, it's a good indicator. It's exciting. We do have some top tier teams going this year. We were runner-up at indoor states. That's hard to say."
“If you can win one state championship in your career that's the goal," he added. “That's the mecca. That's what everyone goes for. If you can just win one, it cements it. It's what everyone wants. I wanted it for a long time. The kids have been working hard. That's the goal. We circled this day on our calendar and we also circled May 31."
In some of the other action at the meet, Newburyport senior Nick Carleo had a few noteworthy legs on a pair of winning relay squads. Carleo anchored his team's 4x1,600m squad with a 4:22, mostly-solo effort for his four-lapper. He came back less than an hour later to kick start his school's first-place sprint medley with a 1:55 split for 800m. In that race, Carleo ran his final 400m in 57 seconds, breaking away on the final backstretch.
“I felt pretty relaxed," he said. “My plan was to take it from the gun. Some kids decided that they just want to go from the gun. I decided no problem about that so I was just sitting on them for a lap. We went through in about 58 (seconds). I started to get a little antsy so I made a little move. That was just it, just finish from there."
Newburyport was a mere second from the Div. 4 meet mark in the 4x1,600m relay with a school record of 18:22.55. Hamilton-Wenham was a distance second at 19:03.05. The Clippers also won the distance medley (11:07.22) and the high jump (17-7.25) relays.
The Norton girls, a seventh-place finisher at the Div. 4 state meet, captured five events en route to their victory over North Reading. The Lady Lancers earned their titles in the 4x100m (51.52), 4x200m (1:48.80), 4x400m (4:13.57), high jump (14-8) and the long jump (46-09.25) relays.
The 4x400m squad, which competed during the latter part of the girls' races, admitted they felt a little pressure with an overall team title within their reach.
“We did," said freshman Julia Palin. “We won it in winter so we wanted to do it again. It feels great to help out."
Ipswich established a Div. 4 record in the sprint medley, and also got a few added bonuses with its first-place clocking of 4:13.33.
"We were trying to qualify for nationals," said 400m leg Michaela Hedderman. “Last year we went for Emerging Elites but this year we actually qualified for the championship at the nationals, and we also broke the meet record and our school record with the time. It's insane! We have been dreaming of (the nationals) for a year. Last year we went to Emerging Elites, which was exciting. It's insane we are actually going to nationals (in the championship race)."
