Girls 4x800/DMR and Boys Shuttle Hurdles Reach the Podium as Lancers Compete at D4 State Relays

The Lancers Indoor Track and Field team showed that they are in championship season form as they took to the Reggie Lewis Center to face off against the best in the MIAA's Division 4 in the State Relays on Saturday. Despite fielding a rather small group of athletes compared to other schools, Norton still made its presence felt, medaling in six events and claiming a 7th place finish on the girls' side and a 13th place finish on the boys'. Click here for complete results.

Girls

In the first event of the day, the Lady Lancers took to the alternate-facing 50-yard shuttle hurdle relays. Competing in Heat 3, the relay team, consisting of Lilly Holloway, Mary Diestel, Hannah Delea, and Julia Newell obliterated their competition, running a combined time of 32.61, a second and a half better than the next closest team in their heat. The Lancers would have to wait through four more sections before a team bested their time, ultimately placing 9th out of the field of 34 teams. This finish was even more respectable considering their solo-effort in their heat.

It did not take long for the girls to grab their first points on the morning as the 4x800 meter relay team sought to improve their seed time heading into the championship portion of the season. Leading off in the second heat, Julia Palin ran away from the field splitting a 2:25 leg to hand the baton off with the lead. Isabella Pietrasiewicz came through to keep the Lancers in contention with the lead through her 2:30 leg while Delea, doubling back from her shuttle hurdle relay, ran a gutsy 2:40 to give the baton to senior captain Katie Bradley through a sea of lapping the field. Chasing Grafton, the race was never ever until it was over, as Bradley ran out of room to catch the leaders, running a speedy 2:30 flat 800 split to get the Lancers a runner-up finish in 10:06.52, fractions of a second off their seed time.

Grafton chases as Delea controls her leg of the 4x800

Doubling back less than an hour later, Palin returned to the track for another 800 leg, this time with the sprint medley relay. During a confusing and bizarre turn of events, it was clear from the beginning that Norton's squad had been seeded to slow. Palin seized the lead in the 800 leg of the SMR and comfortably paced the field before the 400 mark. On her way to splitting 2:28, 200 meter leg Newell attempted to get to the triangles to receive the baton, as Palin began lapping other 800 runners. An official got in her way causing for a hectic scene essentially forcing Newell to force her way onto the track to receive the baton, as she too began to lap 800 meter runners on their final lap. Handing off the baton in 29.60 despite the confusion, Kirsten Loring took control and weaved in and out of runners, only to find trouble handing off the baton again to 400 meter anchor, Kylie Dion. This time, with officials still confused as to how far along the Lancers were, Dion ran alongside Loring as she finished her 27.96 leg and received the baton to begin the final leg of the relay. When all the confusion finally settled, Dion sprinted her way to a 67.04, winning the heat for the Lancers by almost 13 seconds. Unfortunately, with no competition to pace with, Norton's 4:32.19 was less than 3 seconds away from scoring, as they had to settle for 9th place out of the 39 team field.

Meanwhile in the field, Norton put together a solid performance in the shot put circle. With a mixture of senior and underclassmen talent, the trio of Michaela Whiteside, Erica Ransom, and Ali Whitman took to the circle to throw a collective shot put relay. Whiteside again showed up with her premier strength, throwing 28'-1", while Ransom and Whitman struggled slightly, tossing the shot 25'-0" and 23'-1" respectively. Though not on their best game, the three Lady Lancers stood their own against Division 4's finest, throwing 80'-10.25" together, good enough for a tie with North Reading for 10th place overall out of the 26 team field.

Norton's Shot Put Relay consisting of Whiteside, Ransom and Whitman

Back on the track, the girls distance medley relay also reached the podium. A strong 1,200 meter leg from Bradley (4:05) moved the baton near the front of the pack to Diestel who, in her first 400 of the year, split a strong 62.87 before handing off to Whitman. Fresh from the shot put circle, and also in her first 800 on the year, Whitman continued to lead the chase pack after both Amherst-Pelham and Nauset Regional took to the lead from the start. Handing off amidst a pack of three teams after 2:40 on the track, Whitman got the stick to Pietrasiewicz who patiently stuck with the pack through the first half of her 1,600 meter leg. Coming through the 800 in 2:49, Pietrasiewicz began to rally back and chase down Groton-Dunstable for third. With 400 to go, her legs started turning and produced a powerful last lap sprint to bury G-D and finish her 1,600 meter leg in 5:30, securing the Lady Lancers a third place finish in 13:17.85, just ten seconds off the school record.

Diestel, Bradley, Pietrasiewicz and Whitman celebrate the Girls' DMR third place finish

And finally, to wrap up the the girls events on the day, a young Lancer 4x200 meter team took to the track to improve their seed, set back at WinterFest in December. Experienced was gained as Alexa Sousa-Shumosic ran her first ever 200 race, leading off the Lancers in a 29.21. Breah McKenney took off following a smooth handoff to pass onto Eve Rodriguez after a 29.75 leg. From there, Rodriguez split 30.79 with anchor Ashley Schepis bringing the girls home in a hard-fought 31.18, giving the Lancers a 2:00.69 time on the day, just missing their WinterFest time by less than three seconds. Nevertheless, the Lancers still placed near the front half of the field, finishing 38th out of 60 competing teams.

Boys

Once again, the Men of Norton struck quickly once the meet began. In what has been a recurring theme, the Lancer sprinters have continued to improve, both in form and in performance. The shuttle hurdle relay of Corey Stalters, Jacob Peers, Pat Bingel, and Paul Wisnaskas took to the inside oval with a seed time from their slightly longer race at the East Coast Invitational in Providence. Competing now in 50 yards rather than 55 meters, the Lancers destroyed the preliminary "slow" heat, winning by nearly three seconds, in a race less than 30 seconds long. With arguably the best form and technique that the quartet has delivered all season, the Lancer's 28.89 spoke true to the tradition of strong Norton hurdlers, as it earned a strong third-place finish; only 0.34 seconds out of the first place position.

Flashing the hardware is the Shuttle Hurdlers (P. Wisnaskas, Stalters, Bingel and Peers)

The boys' 4x800 meter relay picked up the effort where the shuttle hurdles left off. Unfortunately missing the fast heat, the Lancers made sure to prove they belonged. Hitting the first race on the track, Austin Carroll went out quick with a speedy 2:05 800 split handing off the baton to Ethan Tetrault. Fresh off a 1,000 meter PR this past week, Tetrault continued his acceleration PRing in the 800 during the relay, splitting 2:14. Handing off to Bingel, with already one medal on the day, no exhaustion was shown as Pat dead-sprinted the last lap clawing to better the boys' 4x800 seed heading into championships. Bingel's 2:12 leg placed Dj Nihill in position to claw back in the heat. Reminiscent of his final 200 in the two mile on Monday, Nihill blew away Norwood in the final lap to take the heat for Norton. Nihill's 2:12 led Norton to an 8:46.65 finish, an improvement on their state-qualifying seed, and a 6th place finish in the field of 32 teams.

Another state-qualifying time by Bingel, A. Carroll, Nihill and Tetrault

Another "first" on the day occurred in the boys' sprint medley relay as Paul Wisnaskas came back from the shuttle hurdles to run his first 800 meter race. Appearing to not miss a beat from his shorter 600 meter specialty, Wisnaskas came through 800 meter in 2:11.76, handing off to junior captain Peter Rivard who took off in the 200 leg at 24.40 speed. With Sam McGrath a late scratch, the second 200 meter leg went to senior captain Aidan Lerner, who showed off his versatility and splitting 25.57. Heading into the final 400 leg, too much ground was left for senior captain Ian Pereira to make up, though his split of 52.85 showed that he is ready for championships season. The collective time of 3:54.71 was just over five seconds off the school record, good enough for an 11th place finish out of 45 teams in the rarely-run SMR.

Competing in the field, the Norton throwers did their best to stick up with the top throwers of Division 4. With both Ryan Carroll and Chris Dennehy competing at Reggie Lewis for the first time, nerves were definitely a factor. Both were slightly off on the day, throwing 23'-7" and 24'-9" respectively, while junior Nick Denham threw 27'-7", adding up to the Lancers' total score of 76'-3.75", good for 18th out of 20 teams. Nevertheless, the added experience and practice will contribute moving forward into Tuesday's regular season finale against Hopkinton and Medfield.

Similarly, the boys distance medley relay faced similar adversity through their race. With three-fourths of the team doubling back from the 4x800 meter relay, the race ultimately became a difficult double that still worked out well as additional speed and mileage for the boys. Tetrault led off the DMR with a 3:46 split in the 1,200 meter leg. Transitioning to Jack O'Brien in the 400 meter leg, the Lancers moved back into the race following a strong 56.56 showing. Handing off to Nihill, the Lancers DMR shower guts and determination to not let the race get too far out of hand. Still, Nihill split a 2:17.57 as he passed the stick to Austin Carroll for the final 1,600 meter leg. Still slightly tired from the 4x800 relay, Carroll stuck onto the end of the pack weaving through lapped runners, ultimately splitting 4:54. Despite the exhausted legs, the collective time of 11:57.09 was still good enough to place 11th out of the field of 29 teams.

Traditionally wrapping up the meet for the Norton boys, the 4x400 meter relay showed that they still had more in the tank after the SMR. In tripling up on the day, Paul Wisnaskas returned to the track one last time for a quick two laps to lead off the Norton Lancers out of heat three. Showing little to no fatigue, Wisnaskas caught up to the lead four teams during the exchange, splitting 55.16. Onto Peter Rivard, who wasted no time picking off runners, the Lancers moved back into the top three following 55.93 seconds. Another clean exchange between Rivard and Aidan Lerner helped the Lancers fight back to the top two teams. Lerner's 55.85 split gave anchor Ian Pereira plenty of room to work with as he overtook the lead less than 100 meters into the race and blew it open for the Lancers. Pereira's 53.12 final leg won the heat for the Lancers as the 4x400 clocked in at a state-qualifying and TVL-leading 3:40.18. After displacing teams from the last two heats, Norton grabbed its final set of medals on the day, placing 5th overall out of 43 schools.


UP NEXT: The Lancers return to Norton for their final home meet on the season, as they honor their seniors at Wheaton College on Tuesday afternoon in a tri-meet between Hopkinton and Medfield.

-Coach Al