On May 12, Walpole High School hosted the Unified Track and Field Metro Divisional Championship. This annual event, which emphasizes the importance of effort and inclusion, featured 12 competing teams. Half of the teams, including Walpole, competed in Division 1, while the other half competed in Division 2. After all the scores were tallied, Weymouth and Braintree emerged as the respective Division 1 and Division 2 champions. Walpole, who competed in Division 1, finished fifth with 147 points.
A plethora of events were offered at the meet including the 100 and 400 meter dashes, the 800 meter run, shot put, javelin, long jump and relays. Each event was divided into tiers based on skill level with awards being given out to the top performers in each tier. There were no qualifying standards for the meet, meaning anyone who wanted to could compete.
Unified Track is different from other sports offered at Walpole because every competitor contributes to the team seeing as each tier is scored separately, with the top six performers in every tier scoring points. For athletes, Unified Track is a way for them to have fun, meet new people, be active and work to get better at something.
“You can have fun and get to meet new people and get to go outside and do a lot of stuff,” Unified athlete, Jack Nicholson said.
The meet started with Division 1 athletes on the track and Division 2 throwing and jumping. Standout Walpole performances include Andre Lessard getting second in tier three of the shot put with a throw of 17 feet 4 inches and Marquis Henderson Hernandez finishing second in tier three of long jump, jumping 6 feet 2 inches.
“Long jump is fun,” Henderson Hernandez said. “I like [Unified Track].”
After this, the divisions switched and Walpole, along with the rest of Division 1 moved to the track to compete in the running events. Top Walpole performers in the 100 meter dash include Lessard, who was second in tier three, Jane Gurtowski, finishing second in tier five and Charlotte Downs placing third in tier four. On top of these achievements in the 100 meter dash, Walpole sophomore Ian Gibbs won tier one of the 800 meter run and the 4×100 meter relay team finished sixth with a time of 1:19.
The Unified Track and Field Metro Divisional Championship marks the end of another successful season of Walpole’s unified track team. In total, 26 athletes competed for Walpole and over 200 athletes competed in total representing all 10 teams in the conference. It is now time for Walpole Unified Sports to begin preparing for next year, where they will again offer Unified Track along with their Unified Basketball team in the winter.
