To most people, spring track is really just the same as winter track: The same student-athletes must run in the spring, so there aren’t a whole lot of newcomers to the team. However, that is not the case. In spring track, four new field events are added, and virtually every running event besides the mile and two-mile are changed to different distances. This makes spring track a very tough sport to win, as there are so many components. However, the Old Rochester Regional High School boys’ and girls’ track teams have proven they can handle the multitude of events, evident in their wins over Wareham High School.
The Lady Bulldogs beat the Lady Vikings 82-45. Ally Saccone took four events for the Bulldogs: the long jump (15’ 7.75), the high jump (5’), the 400 hurdles (68.1), and the 100 hurdles (15.9) to lead the girls to their second victory of the season.
Senior Erin Murphy won the javelin with a toss of 77’2, and senior Hannah Walsh won the shot put, 100-meter dash, and 200-meter dash to solidify the win. Other wins came from freshman Rachel Scheub in the mile (6:18), and junior runner Morgan DaSilva, who provided the most exciting race of the day in the 800 meters. DaSilva battled it out with Wareham freshman Paige Feshkens, but she was able to pull ahead with 200 meters left to grab the win in a state-qualifying time of 2:30.7.
Exciting victories in the 800-meter run seemed to be the theme of the day, as senior captain Fred Murolo passed Wareham’s Mason Vasconcelles with 250 meters to take the win in a career best 2:07, and lead his team to a 103-33 victory over the Vikings. Murolo, who is hoping to run under 2:05 this season, commented on his personal success, and the team’s success in the meet.
“My strategy was just to let the kid exhaust himself and make my move on the second lap while he was tired,” Murolo said. “Everyone had good performances today. Overall there weren’t many standouts but the team did well.”
One of the standouts in the meet was junior Colin Knapton, who in addition to winning the high jump (5’6) and the 100 meters (11.3), set a career best in javelin, where he threw 162 feet, 7 inches. Sophomore Kevin Saccone also was a triple winner for the Bulldogs, taking the triple jump in 36’10.5, the 400 hurdles in 61.2 seconds, and the 110 hurdles in 16.6 seconds. Other wins for the Bulldogs came from Chris Demers, who ran the 400 meters in 54.9 seconds, Mike Wyman, who ran a 9:59 in the two-mile, and Aaron Holick, who won the shot-put with a throw of 42 feet, 10.5 inches.
With the victories over Wareham, the boys’ and girls’ teams improve their records to 2-0. Their next meet is against Bourne High School on Monday, April 22 at Old Rochester Regional. The meet is set to begin at 3:30pm.
By Michael Kassabian
