RallyNorth.net

Sat, Jun 12, 2021 09:00 AM @ Andover

Team	Final
North Andover	167
Central Catholic	73
Lawrence	52
at Andover	25
Methuen	11
Haverhill	7

Knights demolish field for first ever MVC Meet title

Monday, June, 14 By Michael Muldoon

ANDOVER —  It took nine years for the North Andover boys to win their first MVC Open Championship in spring track.

It sure looks like it won’t take another nine years for the Scarlet Knights to win another.

Saturday at Eugene V. Lovely Field coach Steve Nugent’s crew checked about every box imaginable: talent, depth, versatility and the clutch gene.

The boys ran (and jumped, and threw) away with it, outscoring runner-up Central Catholic 167-73.

Nugent said, “Just an incredible day for our boys. So proud of our boys. They left no doubt, it was a great day from start to finish.”

This was old hat for coach Rick DelleChiaie’s girls team, which scored 138 points to hold off Central (114) and host Andover (99). It was a repeat performance as the Knights also won in 2019.

LUCK OF THE IRISH

The Knights had the luck and skill of the Irish. One of the heroes was Aisling (pronounced Ash-Lynn) Callahan.

The 5-4 junior has been on fire, stamping herself as a runner to watch in the upcoming EMass. Division 2 meet and possibly All-States, too.

Saturday she ran impressive 11:18.72 to win the 2-mile. Although she hasn’t run the event often, that slashed an eye-popping 16.01 off her personal best. The previous Saturday she ran a 5:07.72 mile, also a huge 15-second PR and ranks her 11th all-time in our area.

“I felt pretty good. I like the mile and 800 more,” said Callahan, the older sister of St. John’s Prep middle schoolers Declan and Liam Callahan. “I want to make it to All-States.”

Dad, Bill Callahan, ran at Bowdoin and Aisling figures to have some elite academic schools knocking at her door. She won the prestigious Yale Book Award winner.

That big 2-mile didn’t end her day. Callahan, a field hockey player in the fall, came back to anchor the winning 4x800 squad in 2:27. The other Knights were Leyla Kvaternik, Gabby Harty and Erika Wojcik.

MARTEL’S RECORD DAY

Peter Martel has been doing big things but admits he’s been a bit frustrated falling short of the North Andover 400-meter record. He finally got it yesterday with a winning time of 49.57, eclipsing the 49.99 by Trevor Nassar in 2019. Martel vaulted to No. 14 on the all-time area list.

The Colby recruit said, “The past four years, this was my biggest goal. It’s a weight off my shoulders.”

What made it even more special was that Nassar was a teammate and a mentor for two years.

“It was seeing how good he was. It was my mission,” said Martel, who’ll be joining his older brother Alex at Colby.

Martel’s love up until a few years ago was soccer. But he caught the track bug and the enormous sacrifices for his club soccer program started to take it’s toll.

“It was a super hard decision,” said Martel, who also won the pole vault and 4x100 relay yesterday. “It took me 2-3 months to decide.”

When he had a lot of pole vaulting success in the summer of 2019, he took it as a sign to make track his No. 1 sport. The camaraderie of the Scarlet Knight program was a big factor, too.

“Bonding with friends is what’s great,” said Martel, who vaulted 13-0 at MVCs but had a 14-0 career best earlier in the season.

Even for a talent like Martel, going for and achieving three wins isn’t easy.

“It was daunting. It feels great,” said Martel, whose sister, Charlotte, is a promising freshman trackster.

DUREN GOLD RUSH

The headliners in the star-studded MVC meet were two girls who’ve signed Division 1 scholarships. Tewksbury’s Makayla Paige (UNC-Chapel Hill) and Central Catholic’s Katharine Duren (Alabama-Birmingham).

Duren burned it up this winter with her club team and has continued to dazzle this spring.

She has a career-best 14.09 in the 100-meter hurdles and hopes to break 14 seconds.

Saturday she had a busy day which probably wasn’t conducive to a huge hurdles effort. But it was another Duren-esque day. That’s Kat ... sophomore sister Janessa also won the 400 hurdles!

The elder Duren won the hurdles in 14.67 (14.61 in prelims) after previously winning the long jump with a clutch 18-1 on her final try and the 200 meters in 25.91. That’s a lot of competition and heats on a warm June day.

Katharine said, “Whatever time it is, it is. I just wanted the win.”

The pressure was on in the long jump but that’s where she’s at her best.

She said, “I told myself, ‘Kat, you need this jump.’”

The problem with never ceasing to amaze is you’re expected to smash records (school and state) every meet. And now she’s adding more events to her repertoire.

“If I get them, I get them,” she said.

VOLQUEZ WANTS MORE

Jordany Volquez led surprising Lawrence. During the regular season, the Lancers were a co-op team with Dracut. But at MVCs, Lawrence was by itself. Volquez, Eddy Gonzalez and Co. combined to score 52 points.

Volquez, a 6-2 junior, won the 110-meter hurdles in 14.56. When he heard the time, he was less than satisfied. After running 14.51 in qualifying, he wanted faster.

“I have high expectations,” said Volquez, who introduced himself to the local track world with his flashy 14.90 as a novice freshman in 2019. “We can do better. But this means a lot. This was good competition.”

That 14.51 ranks him ninth all-time in the area and smashed the school record of 14.81 set by Joshua Torres in 2002.

Volquez said, “Next week (EMass. Division 1 meet) hopefully I’m a champ.”

Gonzalez, one of the school’s top scholar-athletes bound for Babson on an academic scholarship, also strutted his stuff. He won the triple jump, took third in the long jump and teamed with Volquez, Khais Pichardo and Adonis Garcia for the silver in the 4x100.

Boys MVC Championships

Team scores: 1. North Andover 167, 2. Central 73, 4. Lawrence 52, 9. Andover 25, 10 Methuen 11, 11. Haverhill 7

Area placers (top 6 score):

Pole vault: 1. Peter Martel NA 13-0, 3. Kyran Maher A 11-0, 4. Ethan Bourassa NA 10-6; Shot put: 2. Mason Semaniuk NA 46-6, 3. Uyi Osamuyimen CC 45-3.5, 5. Phil Kirby CC 44-8; Discus: 3. Nathan Jacques NA 133-10, 4. Jack Sullivan CC 119-2, 5. Nathan Herbert CC 117-1, 6. Anthony Bilodeau CC 115-1; Javelin: 1. Will Gossman NA 161-11, 3. Matt Wessel NA 158-11, 5. Conor Moses A 136-2; Long jump: 1. Dom Tritto CC 21-9.5, 2. Matthew Palmisano 20-8, 3 Eddy Gonzalez L 20-4.75, 4. C.J. Pinero L 20-3, 5. Steve Tcheouafei A 19-11.75, 6. Markys Bridgewater CC 19-2.25; Triple jump: 1. Gonzalez L 43-8, 6. Mike Apitz CC 39-9; High jump: 3. Jeyis Gomez CC 5-10, 5. Palmisano NA 5-10, 6. 6. Zach Traficante NA 5-8; 110 hurdles: 1. Jordany Volquez L 14.56, 2. Connor McGarry NA 15.74, 4. John Apitz CC 16.22, 5. Alex Niejadlik NA 16.23, 6. Aidan Charles CC 16.47; 100 meters: 4. Kenny Howshan H 11.56, 5. Ethan Pater CC 11.59; Mile: 1. Camden Reiland NA 4:32.73, 3. D.J. Walsh A 4:35.36, 4. Ryan Connolly NA 4:35.66, 5. Matt McDevitt NA 4:42.50, 6. Matt Giannasca CC 4:45.07; 4x100 relay: 1. No. Andover (C. McGarry, Andrew Howard, Palmisano, Martel) 43.88, 2. Lawrence 43.98, 3. Central 43.98, 5. Andover 46.20; 400: 1. Martel NA 49.50, 2. Gossman NA 50.69, 3. Adonis Garcia L 50.94, 5. Kaiden Nobrega CC 51.45, 6. John Dowgiert M 52.50; 4x800: 1. No. Andover (Reiland, Connolly, Ronan McGarry, Jack Determan) 8:30.39, 4. Andover 8:52.19; 5. Central 8:53.86, 6. Haverhill 9:04.27; 400 hurdles: 2. Tyler Bussell NA 58.814. Owen Phelan NA 60.38, 6. Michael Sullivan CC 62.76; 800: 1. Determan NA 1:58.74, 3. Freddy Coleman M 1:59.96, 4. R. McGarry NA 2:00.46, 5. Colin Kirn A 2:02.03, 6. Patrick Walsh CC 2:03.66; 200: 1. Tritto CC 22.87, 3. Matthew Kutz NA 23.47, 5. Connor Firek H 23.64; 2-mile: 2. Ezequiel Alvarez L 9:59.18, 4. Andrey Sorokin NA 10:16.04, 5. Segev Moritz NA 10:21.21, 6. Matt Serrano A 10:22.32; 4x400 relay: 1. No. Andover (Kutz, Phelan, Howard, Gossman) 3:29.74; 2. Central 3:39.00, 4. Methuen 3:41.06

GIrls MVC Championships

Team scores: 1. North Andover 138. 2. Central 114, 3. Andover 99, 5. Haverhill 40, 10. Methuen 14

Area placers (top 6 score):

Pole vault: 1. Olivia Foster A 10-0, 2. Drew Perry NA 9-0, 3.tie Shayla Quill A, Gabby Bresnick A 9-0; 5. Veralie Perrier CC 9-0, 6.tie Sophia Hutchins A, Lily Brown A 8-6; Shot put: 2 Adrianna Niles CC 34-5, 3. Cailyn Scharneck CC 32-9.5, 4. Jenna Bard NA 32-1.5, 5. Grace Kiley A 31-7.5, 6. Molly Owen H 31-3.5; Discus: 1. Kathleen Yates A 102-5, 2. Courtney O’Neil NA 95-1, 3. Ainsley Chittick NA 94-7, 5. Makenna Dube NA 93-2, 6. Siena DiSalvo NA 91=2; Javelin: 1. Owen H 110-0, 2. Sara Folan A 105-6, 3. Niles CC 103-2, 4. Yates A 91-8; Long jump: 1. Katherine Duren CC 18-1, 2. Ava Nassar NA 17-10, 4. Jankowski CC 17-0, 5. Nevada Fahey NA 16-8; Triple jump: 3. Lindsay Neyman NA 33-8.5, 5. Ashley Sheldon A 33-4, 6. Alessandra Antonelli NA 32-7;

High jump: 1. Perrier CC 5-0, 2. Gwendolyn Bruton NA 5-0, 3.tie Antonelli NA, Jankowski CC 5-0, 5.tie Sheldon A, Angela McNeeley A 4-10; 100 hurdles: 1. K. Duren CC 14.67, 2. Brooke Jankowski CC 15.92, 4. Janessa Duren CC 16.00, 5. Quill A 16.76, 6. Sydney Schwalm NA 17.24; 100 meters: 2. Ava Nassar NA 12.64, 3. Kamilah Cannon H 13.02, 4. Haylee Berry M 13.36, 6. Shelby Nassar NA 13.46; Mile: 1. Finleigh Simonds H 5:15.57, 4. Rose Gordon NA 5:22.94, 5. Erika Wojcik NA 5:23.90, 6. Leyla Kvaternik NA 5:30.61; 4x100 relay: 1. North Andover (Mia Muse, Casey Goland, S. Nassar, A. Nassar); 51.53, 2. Andover 52.17, 6. Central 54.20 400: 2. Katherine Ciesielski CC 61.39, 3. Ella Slayton NA 62.46, 6. Keegan Wipff H 64.04;

4x800 relay: 1. North Andover (Kvaternik, Gabby Harty, Wojcik, Aisling Callahan) 10:08.57, 4. Haverhill 11:000.17, 6. Methuen 11:37.80; 400 hurdles: 1. J. Duren CC 67.60, 2. Michaela Buckley A 67.89, 3. Abby Mastromonaco NA 69.46, 5. Aimee Lu A 69.71; 800: 1. Kayla DiBenedetto A 2:22.59, 2. Courtney Dalke NA 2:25.03, 3. Brenna Corcoran H 2:25.07, 4. Hannah Martin NA 2:26.29, 5. Leigha Leavitt NA 2:27.18, 6. Miana Caraballo M 2:27.24; 200: 1. K. Duren CC 25.91, 2. Ciesielski CC 26.60, 3. Peyton Leventhal A 27.06, 4. Faith Lee CC 27.37, 5. Berry M 27.64; 2-mile: 1. Callahan NA 11:18.72, 2. Molly Kiley A 11:34.84, 3. Caraballo M 11:36.10, 6. Leila Boudries A 12:17.48; 4x400 relay: 3. North Andover 4:13.48, 4. Andover 4:15.44, 5. Haverhill 4:21.70