For many generations of students, the Walpole Girls and Boys Indoor Track and Field teams have always raced at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury. Hosting both Bay State League Meets during the week as well as invitationals on weekends, the Reggie Lewis Center has stood as a versatile facility for Walpole and other high school teams in Massachusetts. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic comes change. In a typical year, two different leagues would race at the Reggie Lewis Center per day, the first league competing from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. and the second league competing from 8:00 p.m. until later in the night. In order to minimize the spread of COVID-19, the Reggie Lewis Center could only allow one league per day, decreasing the amount of meets for every team. Fortunately, while Boston University students were on winter break, the college allowed high school teams to use its facility in place of the Reggie Lewis Center. On Dec. 23, both Walpole girls and boys track teams raced against Weymouth and Milton at Boston University.

The girls team started off strong in the beginning of the night, sweeping the 55m dash against both teams. Lynsey Tashjian took first place, Sarah Schmidt got second and Meri Feener got third. In the 300m race, Walpole girls also swept first, second and third places. Senior mid-distance captain Maggie Mahoney got first, Eliza Lee took second and senior sprints captain Cara King took third.

“I normally run the 55m dash, so when my coaches told me they needed me to run the 300m I was a little nervous due to how different the races are,” King said. “However, when the day of the meet came, I ran a PR (personal record) and placed in third, while other Walpole runners placed first and second giving us nine points against both Milton and Weymouth.”

In the mile, senior Sophie St. George got first place against the entire league and ran a PR of 5:14, which qualified her for Emerging Elites at Nationals. Freshman Caroline White took third place against Milton in her first mile race ever with a time of 5:52. In the two mile, Cara Morris placed third against both teams with a PR of 12:25, qualifying her through divisionals and achieving crucial points for the team. Maddie Grogan had a PR in the 600m with 1:47, also qualifying through divisionals and getting second against Milton and third against Weymouth. 

Walpole girls beat Milton 62-38, but against Weymouth, the meet came down to the 4x400m relay, the last race of the night. The 4x400m team of senior distance captain Laine DiMartinis, Eliza Lee, St. George and Grogan stepped up to the plate and beat Weymouth by three seconds with a time of 4:24. Overall, Walpole girls beat Weymouth 51-49.

“Going into the 4x400m I was really nervous because I knew Weymouth was good and it was going to be a really competitive race,” DiMartinis said. “It came down to us to secure the win so I had to have a good race and rely on the other girls to do well too.”

On the other hand, the Walpole boys beat both teams as well. With the same exact score as the girls, the boys beat Weymouth in a close competition of 51-49. They beat Milton with a higher score of 80-19. In the 55m dash, Walpole boys swept Milton with Nick Leo taking first place, Brady Thynne taking second and Arjav Akkhole in third. Leo also got the third spot against Weymouth, winning one point for Walpole. In the 55m hurdles, senior Nolen Beauregard ran the fastest time of the meet with a 7.91. Senior hurdles captain Mike Caulfield ran a 9.27, getting second against both teams and winning vital points for Walpole.

In the 1000m, Bobby Millette ran a PR of 2:52, placing second against Weymouth and first against Milton. Senior mid-distance captain Sam Alosi ran a 1:30 in the 600m, taking first place against both Weymouth and Milton. Jason Giampapa got third in the 600m against Weymouth and second against Milton. In high jump, senior jumps captain Robert Sacramona took first place against Milton and second place against Weymouth, while Caulfield took third against Weymouth and second against Milton. 

The 4x200m relay team of August Ahmed, Akkhole, Beauregard and Alosi beat both teams as well as the 4x400m relay team of Alosi, Cole Bowden, Ajay Bhagavatula and Dylan Bent, securing crucial points in the last two races of the meet.

With these two wins, the boys team withhold a record of 2-1. The girls team is now undefeated with a record of 3-0 and if they beat Braintree in a few weeks, they will achieve the Herget title. 

“I liked running at BU because I felt like it was a much better atmosphere than the Reggie where everyone could be more involved in other events than just their own, which really brought the team together,” senior distance captain Millette said.