Players of the Season: Boys' 4x400 Relay, Jenny Robinson

While the winter season is in the books, and practices for the spring season get going in just a few days, we at Patch wanted to take one more look back at the individual athletes that lit up the court, rink, track or pool for the Concord-Carlisle High School Patriots.

There were plenty of stellar performances to choose from, but we narrowed it down to a select few to earn the honor Player of the Season.

BOYS’ PLAYER(S) OF THE SEASON

David Blaides, Jibrail Coy, Teddy Pioli and Nathan Feshbach-Meriney, all seniors, indoor track and field

Whether it’s to rest a certain athlete, or maximize skill in a specific area, C-C indoor track and field coach Steve Lane said a team’s four best runners may rarely, if ever, join forces for a relay. For this group, it took almost the entire season to get them on the track at once. Boy, was it special when they did.

Competing in the 4x400 at the New England Championships at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, C-C seniors David Blaides, Jibrail Coy, Teddy Pioli and Nathan Feshbach-Meriney ran a spectacular event to capture sixth place.

“They’re just a really, really wonderful group to work with,” Lane said. “Just toward the end of the season, when you cut down, they were a lot of fun to work with as a small group. Obviously they work really hard, but they’re four really different kids that get along great.”

This group of C-C runners did compete together in the 4x400 until around the time of the Dual County League meet, Lane said. By that time, most of the season was in the books and only the string of championship meets were left.

But a lack of familiarity did little to damper the performance of the seniors. They ran their event in less than 3 minutes, 30 seconds in back-to-back meets in the MIAA All-State Meet and the New England Championships. In the latter, the squad finished in 3:28.80, it’s best mark of the season.

“Obviously, you have to be pretty fast,” Lane said of the 4x400 event. “But the truth is, in the 4x4 there is a certain kind of toughness you need to run 400 meters. It’s a really painful event because you’re essentially springing as hard as you can.”

The team of Blaides, Coy, Pioli and Feshbach-Meriney were up to the task, and that’s they are the C-C boys’ Players of the Season.

GIRLS’ PLAYER OF THE SEASON

Jenny Robinson, junior, girls’ hockey

As was the case with the boys, there were plenty of C-C girls athletes that were deserving of this honor. In fact, the race was so tight it had to be settled by the Supreme Court, okay, that’s not true. But it was a difficult choice nonetheless.

In the end, Robinson was the most deserving. She was one of the leading scorers for a C-C team that will go down as one of the best in the program’s young history.

Robinson helped lead the Patriots to the semifinals of the MIAA Division 2 state tournament. No other C-C squad had made it that far in the program’s first six years. Entering the tournament as the No. 11 seed, the Patriots embarked on a Cinderella run that unfortunately ended with a 4-0 loss to Duxbury High School last Sunday.

Robinson was a prolific scorer throughout the season. According to the tournament program, she entered the postseason with 24 goals and 15 assists for a total of 39 points.

Not only were those numbers good for some of the best on the Patriots, but also some of the best in the Merrimack Valley/Dual County League and all of Division 2.

Sure, she did have some help from her teammates, namely fellow junior Greta White (20-17—37 entering the tournament) and sophomore goalie Michaela Haller (2.36 goals-against average), but Robinson is certainly deserving of being called the girls’ Player of the Season.