Usually, a track meet consists of two teams competing against each other in all events, from the 2-mile run to the high jump. However, this past Saturday, April 27, the number of teams at Walpole high was almost fifteen times that. These 30 teams represented all of the Division 2 Track and Field teams across Massachusetts, competing to prove that their team was superior in the 2013 Relay Meet.
Walpole has never hosted the relay meet; thus, the Track & Field program went through a long and laborious process to qualify to hold such an important event. Walpole had to apply to even be considered to host this event, after which several officials came to inspect every aspect of Walpole’s track facilities to insure that they were up to regulation. Walpole even had to install a new discus circle because the fence surrounding the old one was not tall or sturdy enough to be considered safe. Finally, when the facilities were deemed regulation and capable of holding such a substantial amount of events, Walpole was awarded the honor of hosting the 2013 Relay Meet.
Girls Head Coach Mr. Conor Cashman called the meet “the most prestigious event in the history of Walpole Track and Field”. Very few teams have the ability to hold such a large event at their school, and now, Walpole is now one of them. “We are extremely proud to be hosting one of the largest meets in Massachusetts”, said Cashman. “We are extremely grateful to the DPW, the police, the selectmen, and all the volunteers and students for allowing this to come to our town and working hard to ensure its success”. Over 2,000 athletes, parents, coaches, and spectators attended this Massachusetts meet.
As well as hosting the meet, Walpole included 12 events in total. On the Girls side, Coach Cashman entered 6 teams: 4×100, 4×200, 4×800, long jump, shot put, and javelin.
In the 4×100 the foursome of sophomores—Rosie McCarthy, Brianna Conley, Katie Carter, and freshman Hiromi Kondo—placed 16th overall with a time of 54.75. The girls were most happy about their clean and successful handoffs to one another. In the 4×200 an unusual team of freshman Tori Lynch, sophomore Emma Hunt, and seniors Jacqui Conley, and Mary Reedy ran a season best time of 1:59.55.
The only distance event included the 4×800. The team included sophomore Lucy Lynch, juniors Kristen Coyne and Gina Conti, as well as senior Megan Peterson. The girls placed third overall with a time of 10:05.63 (Only .12 seconds off of the school record). Peterson said, “Despite being just shy of breaking the school record, I think overall our 4×800 team had a great performance.”
In the field events, the Rebels stepped up big time to place in two out of three events. In the long jump, the trio of McCarthy, Kondo, and senior Maddy Shea placed fourth overall with a total jump of 45-07.25. In the shot put, junior Ana Orfanidis, sophomore Caitlin Campbell, and senior Michelle Monahan snuck in to take the last medal in sixth place with a combination throw of 78-09.75. In the javelin, the team of junior Catherine Murphy, sophomore Katie Greulich, and Campbell placed 10th overall. Greulich was the alternate for the trio because of the early leave of sophomore Summer King. Despite the absence of the top thrower, the girls performed exceptionally well with a combined throw of 222-02 feet.
On the boy’s side, Coach Butera also entered 6 teams: 4×100, 4×200, 4×400, 4×800, 4xmile, and javelin.
The 4×100 the squad of seniors Jung Woo Yoon, Connor McCarthy, Kemble Lindh, and PJ Hayes did not finish their race. A baton mishap of McCarthy and Kemble resulted in a disqualification. In the 4×200, juniors Myles Cofield, Colton Mitchell, Ryan Gulley, and sophomore Guy Michel placed 10th overall with a season best time of 1:38.41. Freshmen Eamon McCarthy, and Nick Ricci, along with sophomore Bryan Kelleher, and senior Winston Ho ran together to run a 4×400 with a 3:46.86 to tie their season best time.
The boys 4×800 of sophomores Tom Helm, and Joe Keough along with junior Jon Kelland and senior Nick Culhane ran 8:57.97, which was 13th overall. The unique foursome of juniors Pat Connell, Mikey Van Der Linden, Anthony DiVirgilio and senior Andrew Single competed in the 4×1600 relay with Walpole’s second baton drop. The boy’s, however, did not get disqualified because they did not have to run in a certain lane assignment. The team ran 19:37.50 to take seventh place, just shy of a medal.
In the only field event the javelin team of juniors Jon Rockwood, Ryan Brown, and sophomore Ben Sacco threw a total of 366-11 feet to take 13th place overall.
The overall meet ran smoothly because of the help including coaches, athletes, parents, volunteers, school principals and police. With the successful track and facilities provided Walpole is up again for grabs to host the 2014 relay meet as well.
