Sports
Caprio, Kirby Excel At State Class Meet
TMHS girls track team finishes ninth, boys finish 11th at Division 2 state championships.
Watery eyes and frustrated looks were far more prevalent than smiles and fist pumps for the at the MIAA Division 2 championship meet at Bridgewater State University on Saturday.
and provided the two brightest moments on a day that saw the TMHS girls team finish in ninth place and the boys team finish 11th.
Kirby had an outstanding meet, setting a school record in the 400-meter hurdles and taking third place in the pole vault, while Caprio captured second place in the javelin.
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Kirby ran the 400-meter hurdles in 55.83 seconds to put his name in the Tewksbury record books. He finished fourth in the competition in that event. Needham's Peter Farlow won the race in 55.31 seconds.
Kirby also tied a personal best by clearing 12 feet, six inches in the pole vault, good for third in that event behind Central Catholic's Cam Walsh at 13'6".
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"Kirby was our bright spot," . "He set a school record in the hurdles and he did real well in the vault. He came to compete."
Caprio, the TMHS school record holder in the girls javelin, was seeded second entering the meet and she lived up to her billing. The Tewksbury senior threw 119'0" to take second behind Meghan McHugh of North Attleboro.
Senior sprinter Anthony Arcari took third in the 100-meter dash in a photo finish. Three runners crossed the finish line within .05 seconds of each other and it took race officials several minutes to determine a winner.
Dracut's Keith Hamel won the race in 11.31 seconds with Walpole's Alex Lee second at 11.34 and Arcari third at 11.36.
Senior weight man Dan Sugrue took fourth in the shot put at 49 feet, 9.75 inches. Grunde Brandso of Dartmouth won the event at 50 feet, 8.5 inches.
Kirby, Arcari and Sugrue were Tewksbury's only point scorers as the Redmen finished with 22 points, well behind Mansfield High School's meet-winning total of 126 points.
The TMHS girls scored points in five events and finished the day with 26.5 points, good for ninth place.
In addition to Caprio's strong showing in the javelin, senior middle distance specialist Leanne Tucker took fourth in the 800-meter run at 2:20.69. Stoughton's Jade Paul won the 800 in 2:17.37.
ran fifth in the 100-meter dash at 13.37 seconds, and Tewksbury's 4x400-meter relay team of Bridle, Sarah Hogan, Sara Semenza and Ashley Toland took fourth in 4:09.4.
The Lady Redmen enjoyed a couple of pleasant surprises in the meet as junior javelin thrower Courtney Spinelli took seventh place with a personal best throw of 109-feet, nine inches.
Sophomore pole vaulter Devin Kelly also surprised with a sixth place finish in that event, clearing 8'0".
The top four placers in each event automatically qualify for the All-State meet at Bridgewater State next Saturday. On the boys side, Kirby, Arcari and Sugurue have qualified.
Among the girls, Caprio, Tucker and the 4x400-meter relay team qualified to compete again next week.
