Tewksbury's Arcari, Greene Are MVC Sprint Champs

They may have to start calling the House of Speed.

It was all Tewksbury in the glamour event of the Merrimack Valley Conference Indoor Track & Field  Championships Friday afternoon at the Reggie Lewis Center, as both Anthony Arcari and Ally Greene took home gold medals in the 55-meter dash.

, as the senior speedster defended her 2010 MVC girls sprint title by clocking a season's best 7.45 seconds to hold off MVC rival Sima Soun of Lowell.

, as the senior football/track star pulled a hamstring muscle at the finish line of the boy's 55-meters, and is possibly done for the season.

"It was a great day and it was a tough day, all at the same time," said Tewksbury High boys track coach Steve Levine. "Anthony ran a fantastic race and he had it won all the way. But with maybe five-to-seven meters to go he pulled up with the hamstring and basically dove over the finish line to win it."

Arcari clocked a personal best 6.53 seconds and just held off Dracut's Keith Hamel, who took second in 6.55.

"The times don't indicate how well Anthony ran," Levine said. "He got out of the blocks beautifully and had the race won within three or four steps. He was way ahead with 10 meters to go, and if he doesn't pull up, he  probably would have broken 6.50."

Winning the MVC sprint will probably seed Arcari in the top two or three runners in next week's state championship meet, but Levine is doubtful that Arcari will be ready to compete.

"It's tough news after such a big win, but I think his season is over," Levine said. "We'll have to wait and see what the doctor says, but hamstrings are slow to heal. And Anthony's got the spring track season and college to think about. We don't want to do anything to jeopardize that."

Arcari, who was the TMHS football team's top rusher and leading scorer last fall, has been talking with Holy Cross, the University of Rhode Island, Delaware and UMass-Amherst, among other schools. He hopes to play football and run track in college.

On the girls side, there was no bitter to go with the sweet as Greene successfully defended her 2010 MVC 55-meter championship, to add yet another highlight to an already stellar career. The top point scorer on this year's MVC Division 2 championship team, Greene has taken gold medals in the high jump, the 300 meter run and numerous relay events in dual meets this year.

Friday, not only did Greene win the 55-meter dash, but she also ran a sub-60 second leg on Tewksbury's 4x400 meter relay team that took second in the meet behind Andover.

"I don't know what she was happier about, winning the (55-meter) dash or breaking 60 seconds in the relay," said Tewksbury High girls coach Peter Molloy. "A sub-60 quarter mile is real mark of excellence in girls track."

But then again, Molloy is rarely surprised by anything this versatile senior does.

"I'm not sure there's anything Ally Greene can't do well," Molloy said. "She's a classic example of why any team needs athletic kids. She's a great leader and I don't think I've ever seen a student-athlete who brings such a high level of energy to the team as she does. She's always upbeat and she's a great athlete."

Prominent among other highlights on the girls side of the ledger was junior speedster Jess Bridle's second place finish in the 300. For the second year in a row, Bridle ran a career best at the MVC meet (45.43 seconds) only to finish second to Andover's Eve Bishop.

"Jess ran a great race," Molloy said. "We weren't even sure she could go because she had such a bad cough. But you know Jess, she just said 'Coach, I'm not injured, I'm just sick, so I'm running.' And she went out and ran a great race."

Other notable performances on the girls side included senior hurdler Lauren Andella's sixth place finish  in the 55-meter hurdles in 9.47. Andella hit a personal best 9.46 in the preliminaries. Senior Nikki Smith ran a personal best 9.60 and just missed placing, while senior Hannah Sedgwick ran a personal best 7.92 and qualified for the state meet.

Junior Jackie Giasulllo also ran a career best 45.43 in the 300 to finish seventh and qualify for the state meet.

In the shot put, Tewksbury placed three girls in the top six, led by Lisetta Jacintho in third place with a toss of 31-10.25. Matilda Motovu threw 31-8.25 to take fifth and Sarah Reynolds threw 31-7.5 to take sixth.

The 4x400 relay team took second in 4:05.48 with Greene, Bridle, Sarah Parker and Ashley Toland running the four legs. The 4x200 relay team of Nikki Smith, Hannah Sedgwick, Kelly Quigley and Arianna Smith took sixth in 1:54.66.

Highlights from the boys team included senior shot putter Dan Sugrue throwing a personal best 45-6.25, topping his previous best performance by over a foot. Sugrue was seeded 11th but finished sixth.

Sophomore Brian Amaral took fourth in the mile in 4:40.76, and junior Kip Horahan ran a personal best 4:45.45, good for ninth place. Sophomore Cory Thomas ran a personal best 4:48.43 as both Horahan and Thomas qualified for the state meet in the mile.

Colin Foley ran 2:37.06 in the 1,000 meters food for fourth place. Foley's time was a personal best by two seconds.

In the 600, Brian Gugger took seventh in 1:28.36, craig Tino took 10th in 1:29.22 and Nick Parsons took 11th in 1:29.90. All three runners ran personal bests.

Sophomore Roy Felix ran a personal best 39.21 in the 300 meters to finsih 12th, and the 4x800 relay team of Gugger, Foley, Amaral and Horahan took fifth place. The 4x400 relay team of Felix, Tino, Pasrons and CJ Sutherland took fourth place.

The other tough news for Tewksbury was senior Richard Kirby's stumble in the 55-meter hurdles. After running a personal best 8.04 in the preliminaries, Kirby was considered among the favorites to win the league title. But he stumbled over the next-to-last hurdle and fell to the track. He did not place.

"I felt so bad for him," Levine said. "He was moving so good, so fast, and then bang! It just happened out of nowhere."

Kirby rebounded by jumping 19-4 in the long jump to take fourth in that event.

"That just shows you the guts this kid has," Levine said. "He was devastated when he fell in the hurdles but he pulled himself together and did a great job in the long jump."