Sports
Magicians Track Teams Drop Meet at Peabody
The Marblehead track teams went up against a strong Peabody program and came out with their first losses of the season, dropping to 1-1.
It was a battle of two track powers on Monday, as the Marblehead Magicians (1-1) took on the Peabody Tanners (2-0) at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School. When the final gun had sounded, the Tanners took away wins in both the boys and girls competitions, with 52-34 and 46-40 scores respectively.
The girls meet was a back and forth battle, as both teams dominated certain events, but in the end it was Peabody's ability to take more first place finishes that made the difference.
The home team swept both of the field events, as Amanda Nielsen (4'8"), Sarah May (4'6"), and Catarina Rocha (4'6") went 1-2-3 in the high jump, and Pamela Zabala (29'11"), Lauren Zaimes (27'5"), and Lea Qirjazi (27'3") took the top three spots in the shot put.
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Peabody also took the top two spots in the 45 yard dash, as Haley Dowd (5.8 sec.) and Kara Digiacomo (5.9 sec.) out sprinted Marblehead's Olivia Pennock (6.3 sec.).
The Lady Magicians responded in kind by taking first and second in the 45 yard hurdles and the two-mile, as well as claiming the relay.
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The hurdles were taken by Olivia Vener (7.0 sec.) and Bronte Price (7.2 sec.); Kristen Nihan (7.4 sec.) claimed third place for Peabody. In the two-mile race, Alex Gerard (13:32.0) and Lillian Johnson (13:38.0) were followed in by the Tanners' Danielle Sinvil (15:28.0).
The remaining events were tightly contested, but Peabody was able to get key first place finishes from Cayla Bucci (300 yd., 39.9 sec.) over the Magicians' Emma McGuirk (43.8 sec.) and Sarah May (600 yd., 1:38.1) over Maura Tubridy (1:38.7).
Marblehead's Gretchen Rowe (3:00.6) and Madeline Piela (6:14.0) both had dominant first place finishes, in the 1000 yd. and one-mile races respectively, but Peabody's Samantha Allen (1000 yd., 3:10.6) and Madison Doherty (1000 yd., 3:12.4) and Angela Ellison (one-mile, 6:17.6) were able to earn important points for the Lady Tanners with second and third place finishes.
"(The) girls ran great today, just came up a bit short," said Lady Magicians' head coach Mike Toomey. "It lets us know what we need to work on so we'll be ready next time we see this team at the conference meet."
"Olivia Vener had her first varsity win in the hurdles so that was big for us," added Toomey. 'Coach Haller has a great group of young hurdlers and high jumpers so I think those events are really going to help us later in the season."
Boys Track
The boys score didn't reflect the tight battle fought between the two skilled teams, but personal bests from some of the Tanners allowed the home team to pull away and secure the victory.
In the high jump, Zachary Grube claimed another first place finish, clearing 6'2", but it was Nick Ingham's 6'0" personal best that put him over Marblehead's Billy Graves at 5'10". Nicholas Marotta also topped his career best, throwing 42'9¾" in the shot put, to take first place over the Magicians Noah Bittermann (40'0").
Marblehead was able to grab first place finishes in the 600 yd. and two-mile races, as Will Herlihy (1:22.3) and Pat Casey (11:12.0) ran away from the field, but the Tanners claimed second and third place in both races to make up the surrendered points. Nick Ingham (1:23.2) and Joseph Carbone (1:26.5) came in behind Herlihy in the 600, while Cody Picardy (11:26.2) and Anthony Tedescucci (11:27.6) followed Casey's blistering time.
In the 45 yard dash, Nat Gaye (5.1 sec.) and Ramses Vittini (5.3 sec.) took 1-2 for the Tanners, while Connor Cataldo finished third for the Magicians. Austin Brewster (36.5 sec.) was able to pass Marblehead's Tyree Williams (36.6 sec.) in the final stretch of the 300 yd. race, earning another first place finish for the home team.
In the 1000, Peabody's Nicholas Coocen (2:35.0) and Keane Terenzoni (2:36.5) edged out Marblehead's Chris Neumann (2:40.1); while in the one-mile Marblehead's Henry Pratt (4:55.1) and Noah Bittermann (4:58.4) were second and third as Nick Christensen (4:48.3) came in first.
"Marblehead's got a tremendous team, with a lot of depth," praised Tanners head coach Fernando Braz after his team's win, "but we had a lot of kids step up and it really goes to show the dedication of our coaches and the kids' commitment to hard work."
The Magicians will host Lynn Classical on Tuesday, Dec. 28 at 2 p.m.
