Evan Bedard, a standout high jumper from Peabody High School, was chosen as the Northeastern Conference’s Male Indoor Track Athlete of the Year as the conference announced its annual all-star teams.
Bedard, who set a new record in the high jump at the NEC Championship Meet this winter with a leap of 22 feet 3 inches, was one of five members of the NEC Dunn titlists to earn All-Conference accolades. He was joined by Tanner teammates Peyton Smith in the 55 meter high hurdles (7.76 seconds), Declan Smith in the 1000 (2:26.24), Riley Michaud in the high jump (6 feet), and Alex Jackson in the shot put (61 feet 7 1/2 inches).
Danvers, Beverly and Marblehead each had a pair of All-Conference honorees on the boys side. Speedster Owen Shanbar (6.65) in 55 meter dash and distance ace Will Conklin in the mile, both seniors, represented Danvers.
Beverly High senior Ray Kwiatek was All-Conference in the 300 meters (35.57 seconds). He was also part of 4×200 relay foursome, including Xavier Auk, Evan Wong and Floyd White (1:32.00) to be so honored.
Marblehead’s dominant distance man, Nate Assa, was All-NEC in the 2-mile (9:43.08); he also had the conference’s top time in the mile (4:20.09) at the championship meet. Magicians teammate Jacob Szalewicz, a 600 meter specialist (1:23.73), joined him as All-Conference.
Timothy Lull, Arbi Halilaj, Nicco Cefalo and Adam Staffier of Masconomet took home top honors in the 4×400 relay (3:30.87), while Swampscott’s quartet of Miles Brown, Simon Brown, Anthony Colella and Hunter Hersey topped the field in the 4×800 relay (8:42.72) for the NEC Lynch Division titlists.
Iconic head coach Fernando Braz of Peabody was named the NEC Boys Indoor Coach of the Year after leading his boys to yet another conference championship. Saugus claimed the Boys Sportsmanship Award
GIRLS
Marblehead and Peabody, which tied for the NEC Dunn Division team championship this winter, each had three All-Northeastern Conference selections, as did Masconomet.
Lauren Foley in the 600 (1:40.68) and Alessandra Forgione in the shot put (36 feet 11 1/4 inches) were the individual selections for the NEC Open titlists from Tannertown. They were joined by the school’s 4×400 relay foursome of Avery Marcus, Maya Sutton, Ava Champigny and Lauren Foley (4:21.22).
Speed specialists Elise Burchfield in the 55 high hurdles and Ava Machado in the 55 dash (7.43 seconds) represented Marblehead as All-Conference picks along with high jumper Paige Tredwell (5 feet 2 inches).
Masconomet had All-Conference performances from Piper Testa in the 300 (42.05), Savannah Stevens in the 1000 (3:16.96) and Mara Siewko in the long jump (a new NEC meet record in 18 feet 1/4 inch).
Distance aces Annabelle Averett (5:26.86) and Colette Heil (11:44.86) of Swampscott earned All-Conference accolades in the mile and 2-mile, respectively.
The 4×200 relay team from Danvers, made up of Tess Ryan, Flavia Locilento, Jenea Cash and Sabina Sturgeon (1:51.89) were picked as All-Conference. So were Beverly’s 4×800 relay of Chloe Bossler, Lily Judge, Julia O’Connor and Grace Williams (10:21.44).
Alli Spencer of Gloucester was selected as the NEC Girls Indoor Track Athlete of the Year. David Coleman, who led the Fishermen to the NEC Lynch Division crown, was named Girls Coach of the Year, and his team was also honored with the NEC Sportsmanship Award.