Ten student-athletes from the Gloucester High indoor track squad represented their program at Nike Nationals in New York this past weekend — and each of them will head home with performances to be proud of.
On Thursday at host site The Armory, first-year standouts Carla Kasera and Adeline Wood shined in the girls freshmen long jump, securing 14th and 43rd place finishes, respectively. Kasera also set a new school record in the girls freshmen 60 meter dash.
Then on Friday, it was time for the relays, and Gloucester’s boys and girls squads came through in a big way.
First up was the boys shuttle hurdle (4×55) relay team of Vinnie Mannone, Seamus Linehan, Jaylen Severino and Jeferson Do Carmo; the talented foursome dazzled, finishing in a time of 34.91 seconds for a new school record. That was good enough for 16th place overall in an uber-competitive field, and also earned each member of the relay squad Second Team All-American status.
Later on that day, Severino, Mannone, Linehan and Leo Cosentino teamed up for the boys Emerging Elite sprint medley relay (1600 meters), finishing 22nd overall with a new season best time of 3:49.82. The girls sprint medley pairing of Kasera, Grace Castellucci, Madison Jewell and Hope Castellucci snagged 14th overall with a new season best, too, finishing in a time of 4:28.77.