The Walpole Rebels boys track team made history on Tuesday, May 12, completing the first undefeated season in school history with a victory over Dedham by a score of 117 to 19. Along with the undefeated season, the Rebels clinched their second straight Bay State League Herget title.
“It’s good to win the league undefeated after last year, where we won with a loss to Wellesley. It feels good to be undefeated, but we still have the League and Class Meet coming up,” said Coach Tim Giblin, who coached the team to their title.
Getting first in all but two events, the Rebels dominated the score sheet, only allowing Dedham wins in the mile and shot put.
Knowing that Dedham (0-7) may not be the strongest team in the league, Walpole’s Coach Giblin chose to mix up the roster to give underclassmen a chance to score points and to give the varsity a break from their usual event. What ensued was total domination, as many of the Rebels went on to set new personal bests, a great way to end a successful year.
Starting off with the sprints, the Rebels took an early 18-0 lead. Seniors Mike Quintanilla, Ryan Collins, and Jerry Meneide all went under 12.5 seconds in the 100m, going one, two, three, respectively. Bobby Fitzgibbon cruised to the win in the 100m hurdles, just ahead of Jackson Paslaski and Colin Croak.
On the track next was the mile, where all eight of Walpole’s competitors ran personal best times, led by senior captain Chris Lotsbom. Lotsbom finished a close second to Dedham’s lone miler, running 4:52. Also in the mile was the long awaited distance debut of senior John Farrell, who ran 5:25.
In the 400m, the Rebels continued their dominance, as seniors swept yet another event. Jarrod Goula, Colin Bannon, and Chris Cameron beat all of the Marauder competitors, taking nine more points. Goula crossed the line in 53.2 seconds, just one second behind his season best.
Like in the 400m, the 400m hurdles were won by the Rebels. Yet this was the underclassmen show, where sophomore Paslaski, and juniors Andy Lewis and Colin Croak took the top three spots, running 64.8, 68.0, and 68.8, respectively.
The 800m followed the hurdles, and senior Brendan Corcoran made it count, running the fastest time in the Bay State League this year. His time of 1:59.9 puts him in the top 25 in the state, and qualifies him for the class meet to be held on May 29.
Jerry Meneide barely edged out Mike Quintanilla by .1 of a second to win the 200m (24.5 to 24.6), an event also swept by the Rebels.
The seventh sweep of the day came in the two mile, where sophomore Dave Connors earned the win in a new personal best of 11:21. Just behind Connors came junior Kevin Conley, who also set a personal best running 11:25.
In the jumps, Walpole earned 27 out of a possible 27 points, sweeping each and every position. Senior Jerry Meneide continued his successful day, adding two more wins to his resume, taking the long and triple jump.
“Today was a great day, I felt great and am happy I could help the team win” said Meneide, who will continue on to compete in the league meet this week.
The high jump was won by senior captain Bobby Fitzgibbon, his second title of the day, jumping 5’ 10”.
The first throwing event contested was the shot put, where Dedham took both first and third. Senior Nick Rockwell prevented the Marauder sweep by throwing 46 feet, a personal best by just over one foot. Rockwell followed up his shot put performance with a first place toss of 142’ 9.5” in the discus, just a half foot shy of another personal best.
Ryan Collins earned the victory in the final event of the day, the javelin. His throw of 148’ 2” beat Dedham’s second place by a whopping 20 feet.
Now with the regular season over, the Rebels turn their focus towards the Bay State League, Division 3, and All State Meets. With over fifteen runners and field athletes having already met the state qualifying standards, the Rebels have a legitimate chance placing at the Class Meet. The only thing standing in their way is the Junior-Senior Prom.
Yes, the Prom. Prom is the same day as the Class Meet, giving many of the athletes a hard choice to make: Prom or Class Meet? Some will try to double, attending both, but the team may lose a couple of athletes to solely the Prom. Even if they do end up losing some, the Rebels can still perform extremely well at the meet. Until then, the Rebels will continue training and working towards a possible state championship, one more title they are looking to add to their already impressive season.
