The Amesbury boys track team wasn’t about to let it happen again.
Not this time.
A year ago, the Redhawks came into the CAL Open Championship both Baker champions, and winners of the Division 6 State Relays. There was real confidence that the program could capture the coveted CAL Open title, but despite putting together a good performance, the Redhawks couldn’t overcome crosstown rival Newburyport going back to back to defend its title.
Sure, it was sort of close, 121-109.5.
But heading into this year’s CAL Open, held at North Reading High School on Friday night, the Redhawks wanted redemption.
And they got it.
Behind who else but UMass Amherst throwing commit Aiden Donovan breaking two meet records in the shot put and discus, the Amesbury boys were able to hoist the CAL Open trophy high at the end of the night with 114.5 points. The host Hornets came in second with 104 points, and were followed by Triton in third (102), Newburyport in fourth (101.5) and Pentucket in fifth (96).
On the girl’s side, powerhouse North Reading ran away with the meet with 197 total points. The Newburyport girls were the next closest in second with 93 points, and elsewhere locally Triton was fourth (77.16), Pentucket was fifth (73.33) and Amesbury was eighth (31).
“To win the CAL Championship Meet is very special considering the quality of the teams in the field,” said Amesbury coach Ernie Bissaillon. “All of the teams near the top always go on to do very well at their State Meets next week, so this was a tremendous win for the boys and the points came from a lot of different areas.”
But even with that said, it’s hard not to start with Donovan.
For the 6-foot, 260-pounder, it was a successful title defense of both his shot put and discus crowns from last year’s CAL Open — and in emphatic fashion. He broke both the meet record and Amesbury High record in each event, tossing a stellar 59-0 in the shot put and a 171-11 in the discus. His shot put was nearly 13-feet longer than teammate Dylan Palen in second (46-3), and he won the discus by a crazy 24 feet over Leo Romanski of North Reading (147-8).
Donovan was rightly named Athlete of the Meet for his performance.
Although, he of course had help in leading the Redhawks to the team victory.
Daily News Indoor Track MVP Micheal Sanchez raced to first in the 400 (50.37), then added a second in the 100 (11.06). The Redhawks got another event victory from Maxx Rodrigues in the 800 (2:04.69), and thirds from Max Sanchez in the 400 (51.85sec) and Brodie Tonks in the pole vault (10-6). Finally, both the 4×100 relay team of Tristan JohnsonBen Wood, Joe Puleo and Anthony Aguilar-Lopez (45.34), and the 4×800 team of Brody Hall, Josiah Fugate, Dane Hall and Tonks (9:12.79) were third.
For the Amesbury girls, Bayleigh Shanahan earned all-league honors by placing third in the low hurdles (67.08).
Pentucket: Spaulding and Dalgar each win twice
At long last, Joel Spaulding can say that the 100-meter Pentucket school record is his alone.
For the past year, the elite sprinter has shared the benchmark with former teammate Yanni Kakouris (11.01), and hasn’t been able to shave off that .01 second this spring. But the day finally arrived at Friday’s CAL Open, where Spaulding crossed the 100 finish line in 10.85 to both win the event, while also breaking the Panthers’ school record and tying the overall meet record.
And he wasn’t done.
Spaulding went on to win the 200 as well (22.54), then teammed with Gabe MacLeod, Luke Zavaski and Jack Foley to break the meet record and win the 4×100 in 43.85. In probably a no-brainer of a decision, Spaulding was named Athlete of the Year for the Kinney Division.
The Pentucket boys got two other event victories on the day, one coming from Tighe Hosman in the 400 hurdles (58.54), and the other from Anthony Lee in the javelin with an 18-foot personal best (152-10). Finally, the team of Hosman, Owen Corkery, Grayden Wright and Aivyn Privitera were second in the 4×400 (3:38.42).
Moving over to the Pentucket girls, Kaylie Dalgar continues to dominate.
The UMass Amherst commit won the Mile during every regular-season meet this spring, and wasn’t about to give that crown up at the CAL Open. She breezed to victory in the Mile in 5:04.87, then doubled-up as a CAL champion with the victorious 4×800 team alongside Carly Foley, Cece Cammett and Brighton Seymour (10:15.62).
Seymour then added a third in the 800 in personal-best time (2:26.82), and Daily News All-Star Wynter Smith was second in both the high jump (4-10) and high hurdles (16.21).
Newburyport: Parker’s big day lifts girls to second
Behind the second-place overall team finish for the Newburyport girls were of course a handful of top performers.
But Blake Parker certainly stands out.
The senior started her day by winning the 800 (2:22.81), then ran on the winning 4×400 relay team with Morgan Felts, Penelope Fuentes and Devin Stroope (4:09.14). Felts herself added a second in the 400 (1:00.72), while Stroope both won the javelin (97-5) and was third in the 200 (26.50).
Lastly for the Clipper girls, Lucy Buchmayr was second in the 100 hurdles (15.75), and both the 4×100 team of Grace Parsons, Chloe Raby, Skylar Ikemoto and Anna Seidel (53.55) and the 4×800 team of Laney Schwab, Lydia Boddy, Riley Boddy and Ciara Geraghty (10:46.26) were third.
For the Newburyport boys, Michael Mohoric won the 2-Mile in a blazing time (9:43.28), while Matteo Colombo was both first in the triple jump (44-2.50) and second in the long jump (21-2). Jalen Wise was second in the 400 (51.18) and third in the triple jump (42-0.50), and the Clippers got thirds from Alex Lisauskas in the 800 (2:06.04), Kyle Lisauskas in the 400 hurdles (1:01.54) and Cade Pessolano in the shot put (44-8).
Triton: Boys crush the relays
Teamwork was the story for the Triton boys at Friday’s CAL Open.
The Vikings were excellent in all three relays, with the 4×400 team of Jack Lyman, Scott Holscher, Andrew Doherty and Sam Abt winning in 3:35.67. You then had Tyler Brosch, Michael Coco, William Hight and Abt take second in the 4×100 (44.52), and John Prendergast, Zach Lyon, Duncan MacDonald and Cassidy McBee similarly finish second in the 4×800 (8:40.98).
Brosch added a second in the 200 (23.18), Coco was third in the 200 (23.50), Prendergast was third in the 800 (2:05.63) and MacDonald was third in the Mile (4:43.10). Lastly for the Viking boys, Liam Kneeland was third in the discus (145-0), and Jason Holscher was third in the high jump (5-10).
The Triton girls, meanwhile, were led by a handful of seconds.
Individually, Anna Romano took the silver in the 800 (2:24.17), while Sophia Lesinski did the same in the 400 hurdles (1:05.73). The Vikings then saw both the 4×100 team of Aaliyah Jackson, McKensie Byrnes, Colleen Johnson and Ella Treitel-Poore (52.80), and the 4×400 team of Lesinski, Romano, Avery Upite and Arianna Basile (4:09.55) each race to second.
Finally, London Cole was third in the shot put (30-7.50).
CAL Open (Boys)
Team Scores: 1. Amesbury 114.5; 2. North Reading 104; 3. Triton 102; 4. Newburyport 101.5; 5. Pentucket 96; 6. Lynnfield 75; 7. Hamilton-Wenham 62.5; 8. Ipswich 34; 9. Essex Tech 11.5
Top Local Placers:
100: 1. Joel Spaulding (P) 10.85; 2. Michael Sanchez (A) 11.06; 200: 1. Joel Spaulding (P) 22.54; 2. Tyler Brosch (T) 23.18; 3. Michael Coco (T) 23.50; 400: 1. Michael Sanchez (A) 50.37; 2. Jalen Wise (N) 51.18; 3. Max Sanchez (A) 51.85; 800: 1. Maxx Rodrigues (A) 2:04.69; 2. John Prendergast (T) 2:05.63; 3. Alex Lisauskas (N) 2:06.04; Mile: 3. Duncan MacDonald (T) 4:43.10; 2-Mile: 1. Michael Mohoric (N) 9:43.28; 110 hurdles: 1. Tighe Hosman (P) 15.35; 400 hurdles: 1. Tighe Hosman (P) 58.54; 3. Kyle Lisauskas (N) 1:01.54
4×100: 1. Pentucket (Luke Zavaski, Kade Dennis, Jack Foley, Joel Spaulding) 43.85; 2. Triton (Tyler Brosch, Michael Coco, William Hight, Sam Abt); 3. Amesbury (Tristan Johnson, Benjamin Wood, Joseph Puleo, Anthony Aguilar-Lopez) 45.34; 4×400: 1. Triton (Jack Lyman, Scott Holscher, Andrew Doherty, Sam Abt) 3:35.67; 2. Pentucket (Grayden Wright, Aivyn Privitera, Owen Corkery, Tighe Hosman) 3:38.42; 3. Newburyport (William Downs, David Walker, Alex Lisauskas, Jalen Wise) 3:40.51; 4×800: 2. Triton (John Prendergast, Zach Lyon, Duncan MacDonald, Cassidy McBee) 8:40.98; 3. Amesbury (Brodie Hall, Brody Tonks, Josiah Fugate, Maxx Rodrigues) 9:12.79
SP: 1. Aiden Donovan (A) 59-0; 2. Dylan Palen (A) 46-3; 3. Cade Pessolano (N) 44-8; Discus: 1. Aiden Donovan (A) 171-11; 3. Liam Kneeland (T) 145-0; Javelin: 1. Anthony Lee (P) 152-10; HJ: 3. Jason Holscher (T) 5-10; Pole vault: 3. Brody Tonks (A) 10-6; LJ: 2. Matteo Colombo (N) 21-2; TJ: 1. Matteo Colombo (N) 44-2.50; 3. Jalen Wise (N) 42-0.50
CAL Open (Girls)
Team Scores: 1. North Reading 197; 2. Newburyport 93; 3. Hamilton-Wenham 85; 4. Triton 77.16; 5. Pentucket 73.33; 6. Essex Tech 64.5; 7. Ipswich 54; 8. Amesbury 31; 9. Lynnfield 26
Top Local Placers
100: 4. Bayleigh Shanahan (A) 12.88; 200: 3. Devin Stroope (N) 26.50; 400: 2. Morgan Felts (N) 1:00.72; 800: 1. Blake Parker (N) 2:22.81; 2. Anna Romano (T) 2:24.17; 3. Brighton Seymour (P) 2:26.82; Mile: 1. Kaylie Dalgar (P) 5:04.87; 2-Mile: 4. Lydia Boddy (N) 12:37.83; 100 hurdles: 2. Lucy Buchmayr (N) 15.75; 400 hurdles: 2. Sophia Lesinski (T) 1:05.73; 3. Bayleigh Shanhan (A) 1:07.08
4×100: 2. Triton (Aaliyah Jackson, McKensie Byrnes, Colleen Johnson, Ella Treitel-Poore) 52.80; 3. Newburyport (Grace Parsons, Chloe Raby, Skylar Ikemoto, Anna Seidel) 53.55; 4×400: 1. Newburyport (Morgan Felts, Blake Parker, Penelope Fuentes, Devin Stroope) 4:09.14; 2. Triton (Avery Upite, Sophia Lesinski, Arianna Basile, Anna Romano) 4:09.55; 4×800: 1. Pentucket (Carly Foley, Brighton Seymour, Cece Cammett, Kaylie Dalgar) 10:15.62; 3. Newburyport (Laney Schwab, Lydia Boddy, Riley Boddy, Ciara Geraghty) 10:46.26
SP: 3. London Cole (T) 30-7.50; Discus: 5. Kayley Simons (N) 93-4; Javelin: 1. Devin Stroope (N) 97-5; HJ: 2. Wynter Smith (P) 4-10; 4. Laney Schwab (N) 4-10; Pole vault: 4. Alexa Bonasera (T) 7-6; LJ: 5. Bayleigh Shanahan (A) 16-2.25; TJ: 4. Emily Bethmann (P) 32-3.75