Boys Track Fourth At State Meet

The Swampscott Boys' and Girls' Track & Field teams headed down to Pembroke High School, also known as Track Town Massachusetts, on Sunday for the MIAA Eastern Massachusetts Division III Championships. The meet matches up all schools of a similar size enrollment from Eastern Massachusetts in a competition to determine which individuals will advance to the MIAA All-State Championships this Saturday at Westfield State University.

In order to qualify for the EMASS Championships, athletes had to run, jump, or throw better than a specific qualifying mark. By the end of the meet, many Big Blue athletes had personal bests times that placed them towards the top of their events, or scoring points for the team by finishing in the top eight in their event.

The Swampscott Boys had a banner day, placing 4th overall out of the 33 scoring teams with a team score of 43 points, the highest team finish by a Swampscott team at this meet in the last ten years. Although track is viewed as an individual sport, a team effort from multiple events contributed to this score.

The meet started off with senior Peter Hale running a controlled effort in the two mile, negative splitting 4:50/4:36 to take the two mile title with a time of 9:26.34. The Williams College bound senior led teammate Matt Mahoney, a junior, through the race; Mahoney would place fourth with a personal best time of 9:34.59. Both will advance to All-States next weekend.

Senior Zach Blonder, who will be attending Carnegie Mellon University this fall, placed 5th in the 100 meter dash, just missing an All-States berth with a time of 11.80. Junior Maleek Newsome placed 4th in the 200 meters with a time of 23.37 to advance to All-States. Senior Declan McClung had huge race in the 400 meters, punching his ticket to All-States with a personal best time of 50.91 to finish 3rd. McClung will attend college in Scotland next year. The 4x800 meter relay team of Hale, Mahoney, Noah Conti, and Bennett Smith placed 8th with a time of 8:34.26. 

In the field events, senior Robert Seymour placed second in the shot put with a toss of 51'-03" to earn his All-States berth. Seymour will attend the Wentworth Institute of Technology in the fall. Teammate Justin Chasse placed 6th with a personal best throw of 48'-05.25". Aidan Brawley wrapped up the scoring by placing 8th in the javelin with a throw of 158'01".

For the Swampscott girls, senior Melinda Wilson placed in two events. Wilson, who will attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, placed 8th in the 400 hurdles (71.15) and 3rd in the discus (113'09"). Senior Nancy Do placed 8th in the long jump (16'05"), and the 4x400 meter relay team of Aisling Dennehy, Shauna King, Taylor Gateman, and Wilson cracked the top ten, placing 10th with a time of 4:19.79.

Full results from the meet can be found here.

The MIAA All-State Championships will be held on Saturday at Westfield State University.