The Lancers welcomed the Ashland Clockers to their last Fall 2 home meet while also honoring the Class of 2021 for their commitment and work in strengthening the program over the past four years.
Complete results from Tuesday's meet can be found here: TVL Fall 2: Ashland @ Norton Meet Results . The meet recap will focus on the performances of our 13 graduating seniors.
Girls (4-0)
Madeline Dolack
A four year member of the hurdles squad, Dolack (9.9h) continued her stride grabbing a season's a career best in the 55m hurdles to finish third overall. Her time of 9.9h places her TVL#T3 amongst Fall 2 teams, at the time of this posting. To couple with her PR, she also ran a season's best in the 55m dash, running to 8.2h in her heat.
Heather Kurland
Captain Kurland left her final "indoor" home meet with a bang. A season's best and TVL#1 time of 9.1h in the 55m hurdles and a season's TVL#5 time of 7.5h in the 55m started the meet off hot for Kurland. But she saved the best for last in the vertical jumps, as she closed out the meet with a two inch personal best in the high jump, winning in a TVL#1 mark of 4'-10".
Isabella Pietrasiewicz
One of the most prolific runners in Norton HS history, Dartmouth-bound Pietrasiewicz took the co-ed mile by storm, working alongside teammates Aiden Masse and Gabe Dennett in sharing the effort duties of pursuing a personal best. When the dust settled, Pietrasiewicz crossed the line in a new program best time of 5:07.7h. Her time bested her own indoor school record (5:12.76) from the 2017-18 season, as well as the outdoor record (5:09.2h) set by Julia Palin '18 during the 2018 season. Pietrasiewicz closed out the track events with a 64.9h opening leg split on the winning 4x400m relay team (4:36.9h) of Erin Podbelski, Carly Goodwin, and Shea Podbelski.
Michaela Whiteside
Whiteside, the quintessential athlete-coach for the throws squad for the past four years, opened up her senior meet with a near season's best time of 8.8h in the 55m dash. She quickly got back to business in her specialty, showing true end-of-season form in cracking 30 ft for the first time this season, winning the shot put by almost seven feet by hitting 30'-0". Her best throw moves her up to TVL#5 on the Fall 2 season. But truly, she deserves ample credit, along with her father Coach Mike, for developing the throws program into a tight-knit group that continues to seek improvement, week-in and week-out.
Boys (2-1-1)
Thomas Anderson
Anderson battled injuries all season, but over the past few weeks, started to slowly return back to mid-season form. And in doing so, he primed himself for a special Senior Night. Running in the 1,000m, Anderson paced through his teammates through 800m and kicked over the last 200m in earning himself a new personal best time of 3:19.4h to finish sixth overall. From the start of the season, he shaved off nearly 20 seconds in the 1,000m, staying committed to his plan for continued improvement.
Derek Bamford
Just like Anderson, Bamford also faced early season injuries. However, after they quickly faded, Bamford drew up a phenomenal season on the heels of a record-setting cross country season. Numerous personal bests later, he entered Senior Night with the goal of breaking 5:00 in the mile. Pulling away and leading a Lancer sweep, he did just that running an eight second PR, stopping the watch at 4:57.4h, the TVL#4 time this season. Bamford then carried over that speed to the third leg of the 4x400m relay team of Sean Wynne, Charlie Mills and Paul Wisnaskas. While the Lancers lost to Ashland's TVL#1 team, they earned the TVL#2 time of 3:38.4h, with Bamford running his best split of the season, handing off to Wisnaskas after clocking 54.6h.
Ryan Carroll
Captain Carroll has rode the most progressive roller coaster of improvement since the winter, individual track & field season. Since ending last year at 38'-7.5", he skyrocketed up by large increments, as much as eight inch improvements per meet. He cracked 40 feet and 41 feet in successive meets. He reached a new high on Senior Night, after missing the Holliston meet due to contact tracing. Carroll made up for lost timing launching the metal ball 42'-5.5", setting a massive personal best. He has owned the TVL#1 Fall 2 mark for the entire season, over three feet ahead of TVL#2. Along with moving consistently quicker in the 55m dash, recording a season's best of 7.4h on Senior Night, Carroll has been the model for optimistic progress this season. His attitude is infectious and has left a lasting impression on the program.
Gabe Dennett
In his lone season of indoor/Fall 2 track, Dennett displayed a competitive and friendly attitude that is consistent with athletics that proves that this sport is his true calling. Sticking to his personal goals as well as his passions, Dennett (5:05.8h) helped Pietrasiewicz fight through fatigue in her school-record run while he just narrowly missed his season's best time set two weeks prior. Similarly, while still placing well in the shot put, his throw of 28'-4" was still shy of his personal best this season. Forever the team player, his sacrifice and effort in the mile, at the direct benefit of others, cannot ever be fully appreciated.
Christopher "CJ" Liebherr Jr.
Unfortunately, injuries that plagued Liebherr last winter persisted through the Fall 2 season. Yet, he did not let that interfere with his contributions to the team. Helping at practice and helping direct meets allowed Liebherr to remain a member of the team as he worked through tireless physical therapy to return to competitive form. In just his second race of the season, Liebherr (7.3h) flew right back up the team's depth chart in the 55m dash, showing that he still has something to offer, especially for the outdoor track season. His atittude and compassion for his teammates will be sorely missed next winter.
Duncan Owens
Owens always keeps himself busy but he is always willing to put himself forward for the sake of the team. Especially after being jumped around during his early career, he found a home in the sprints/jumps. And on Senior Night, it showed. Owens (6.9h) recorded a second-place finish along with a big personal best time that moved him up to TVL#T8 on the Fall 2 season. He continued in matching his high jump best in jumping 5'-2", just missing on scoring by attempts. Owens closed out the day with a near-PR in the 300m, running to 40.9h on a windy day.
Austin Petitpas
While only competing on the indoor team for two seasons, Petitpas still left a distinguished mark on the program, especially with the hurdles squad. A carefree but motivated individual, Petitpas clicked into rhythm against Ashland, running to a personal best time of 10.1h to earn a second place finish in the 55m hurdles. He sits at TVL#T8 with his best mark while he also posted a strong time of 8.3h in the 55m dash following his three-point hurdle performance.
Paul Wisnaskas
A captain, a competitor and a true friend, Wisnaskas put together another phenomenal performance as he nears the closure of one of the most successful chapters of NHS athletics history. He opened up the meet with a season and TVL#1 best time of 7.6h in the 55m hurdles, claiming the win by nearly three seconds. He then took his second W of the day in the high jump, clearing 5'-10". And on the second place Lancer relay team, Wisnaskas posted the fastest 400m split of the season, putting together an unofficial 51.3h split. He does more for this team, often at the expense of his own progress. The program is forever indebted to him and for what he has done for the benefit of the Lancers track & field team.
Sean Wynne
Captain Wynne once again delivered to help the Lancers secure the dual meet victory. He tripled up in matching his best jump in the high jump, clearing 5'-0". But in his specialty, Wynne (2:49.9) blew the lid off the 1,000m run from the start, opening up in a 60-second 400m en-route to a near 20-second victory as part of a Lancer sweep. His time secured the TVL#2 time on the season. He also opened up with a season's best 54.7h on the Lancer's TVL#2 3:38.4 4x400m relay team.
Up Next: Several Lancers will compete unattached this weekend at West Bridgewater HS in the MSTCA Indoor/Outdoor Challenge. The invitational will compete in indoor events/distances but on the outdoor track surface. Results will be found here: MSTCA Indoor/Outdoor Challenge Results.
The Lancers wrap up the Fall 2 season with their lone away meet against Medway High School on Wednesday, April 14. Buses will be leaving NHS at 2:20 pm.
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