The state-level Division 4 Relays prove a lot about a track team; they show the team’s talent in individuals and in their overall depth, as each relay team is compromised of three or four athletes. The Old Rochester boys’ and girls’ teams each proved that they possess both, as the girls won the meet and the boys came second in the overall standings.
The girls’ team, which won with 35 points, was led by strong performances in the shuttle hurdles and the 4×200 meter relay. The shuttle hurdle team, made up of Kristen Fuller, Meagan Bell, Paige Santos and Ally Saccone, won the event with a school record time of 30.18 seconds. Santos and Saccone teamed up with Hannah Walsh and Morgan DaSilva to once again take the 4×200 relay in a dominant time of 1:49.6. Santos also led the girls to a third place finish in the high-jump relay, along with freshmen Zoe Smith and Elexus Alfonso.
Going into the final event, the 4×400 meter relay, it looked as if the boys’ team would win the overall meet, as their closest competitor, Weston High School, didn’t have a relay team. However, the results of the long jump relay came out right before the start of the race, and Weston, having placed second, slipped by ORR in the standings by 2.4 points.
Regardless, the boys had excellent performances. Nick Mathieu, Kevin Noone, Richie Phillips and Dan Donahue won the 4×200 meter relay with an excellent time of 1:36.58, thanks to a phenomenal anchor leg by Donahue, who passed two teams to take the win. The boys also placed second in the 4×800 meter relay with a time of 8:28.53, thanks to the efforts of Nick Pacheco, Mike Wyman, Connor Medeiros-Sweet and Fred Murolo. Murolo, Wyman and Pacheco returned with Noone to take third in the distance medley with a time of 11:09.72.
The relays helped to prove that both track teams have the potential to not only win the SCC, but also possibly win states at the conclusion of the season.
The basketball team had an up-and-down week. Last Tuesday, the boys lost to GNB Voc-Tech, 75 – 58. Only five players scored for the boys; Jeremy Bare (25 points), Raekwon Phillips (12 points), Mikey Pruchnik (13 points), Hayden Bergeron (4 points) and sophomore Jordan Menard (4 points), who scored his first career varsity baskets.
The boys came back from their disappointing loss on Tuesday to win against the Apponequet Lakers, a team that had beaten them previously in the season. With two minutes left, the Bulldogs were up by only four points, but they managed to fend off the persistent Lakers thanks to strong performances by Bare and Bergeron. Bergeron’s biggest play came after Bare missed two free throws with 13 seconds left. The junior fought for the rebound and put it back up to extend the lead to an unreachable 5 points.
The final score of the game was 49 – 43. The win puts the Bulldogs at a 3 – 7 overall record.
By Michael Kassabian
