Walpole Outdoor Track’s dual meet season is drawing to a close with its final dual meet today on Wednesday, May 14 against Natick. Because Wellesley Girls (4-0 in Herget) defeated Natick (3-1 in Herget) last week, Walpole Girls Track is out of the running for the Herget Championship; however, because Natick Boys (4-0) beat Wellesley (3-1), Walpole (3-1) could force a three-way tie for the Bay State Herget Champions.
“Natick is definitely going to be our biggest challenge all season. They are a very strong team and one that is well coached.” said Head Coach Kevin Butera, “We have tied them twice in spring meets in the past 4 years so I’m expecting this meet to be another close one. This time we will be playing the role of underdogs.”
Natick’s team has been increasingly getting better over the course of the season. Their sprinters in particular are very strong. For example, sophomore Myles Holt, whose best time of 11.64 seconds in the 100 meter dash is 0.2 seconds faster than Walpole’s fastest runner in the event, senior Myles Cofield. Natick’s other top sprinters— including senior Ben Goerlich and sophomore Matthew Russell— follow closely behind Holt.
Their hurdlers are also tough competition for the Walpole boys. Their top 110m hurdler’s best time is 0.60 faster than senior Captain Mike St. Germain’s best time of 15.64 seconds. In the 400m hurdles, junior Bryan Kelleher ran his best time in a meet against Milton on May 5 with a time 59.4; however, Natick’s top hurdler ran a 57.1 in their last week against Milton.
Butera said, “If we are going to win we will need to take care of business in every event group. There will be no wiggle room against a team as strong as Natick is.”
If Walpole is going to have a shot, they need to be dominant in the Throws. Similar to Norwood and Milton, the javelin team of Jon Rockwood, Ben Sacco, Nick Corcoran, Colin Fair will need to sweep the event like they did against Norwood and Milton. In addition, Rob Lederman – who threw a personal record of 40’11” in Shot against Milton – will need to lead a strong showing in Shot Put. Meanwhile, in Discus, if seniors Mike Williams and Michael Greulich, and junior Shawn Sarnie can throw their best throws, they will have an opportunity to sweep. Because Natick is strong in the jumping events, Walpole will need to not only sweep the throwing events; they will also have to prevent sweeps in the jumping events.
As the underdog, Walpole needs a lot to go right for them today in order to have a shot against a strong Natick team. For Walpole Boys Track, today will definitely be historic: today could notch another year on their Bay State legacy, or it could mark the end of one.
