RallyNorth.net

Pentucket Sachems Boys Indoor Track '14-'15

Sat, Feb 21, 2015 09:00 AM @ Neutral Location
Team Final
Andover 31
Mansfield 26
Methuen 7
Central Catholic 4
Haverhill 0
Lawrence 0
North Andover 0
North Reading 0
Pentucket 0

Andover the king of Massachusetts track

  • Currently 0.0 with 0 votes.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5


  — Posted: Sunday, February 22, 2015 12:00 am

BOSTON — How did Andover coach Peter Comeau celebrate winning the All-State track and field title?

By fighting traffic to pick up his wife up at the Manchester Airport.

Well, the meet was probably all the excitement he could take anyway.

Protests, upsets and heroic performances punctuated a wild Saturday at the Reggie Lewis Center. Andover won it in the 13th and final event, grabbing a second-place in the 4x400 relay with a two-second personal best to vault past Mansfield (31-26) and win the coveted crown.

It was the second All-State indoor title in the last six years for the Blue and Gold.

“From the first event to the final event, I can’t even tell you how special it was,” said Comeau.

That first event, the 55-meter hurdles, was the Andover day in a microcosm: spectacular highs (Sebastian Silveira won in a speedy 7.57), heart-stopping confusion (Sean Caveney misjudged the starting gun) and tremendous grit (Caveney got his bearings and somehow finished sixth).

“It was like, Holy (bleep!),” Comeau said. “In the trials, Caveney had the fastest time (7.68). They’d been having problems with the gun. He kind of hesitated. Any other athlete would have just taken the eighth-place.”

Those points were key and Caveney wouldn’t let the strange start to his day get him down.

Guess who was a key to the victorious 4x200 and runner-up 4x400 relays? Yes, the Davidson recruit Caveney. And those relays, the third-to-last and final events of the day, were within 20 minutes of each other.

“I knew we needed those points,” Caveney said of the hurdles rebound. “It was definitely a learning experience. I was lucky to at least get the sixth.”

There was no luck in the relays ... just pure teamwork, speed and guts.

Andover rolled to the 4x200 title but, alas, nothing would be easy this day. Woburn was furious, claiming Andover was responsible for a collision.

“There guy pushed Sebastian on the hand-off,” said Comeau. “Whatever lane you pass in, you have 10 strides (after the hand-off). They thought he should get off the track right away. But the clock and the bell were right there (in Silveira’s way). I was sweating it.”

Emotions were high and the wait seemed interminable. The judges decided Woburn was disqualified and the 4x200 win was upheld.

“They didn’t post for 10 minutes. You never know,” said a very relieved Comeau.

The team of Caveney, Jeremy Travaglini, Silveira and ace anchor Hamza Naveed could keep their medals. More importantly, Andover could keep its hope.

That put Andover within striking distance in the bunched-up field. Northampton also was a major threat to vault both Marshfield and Andover as it had among the top teams in the two remaining relays: 4x800 and 4x400.

But Northampton took a fourth in the former and a third in the latter.

It would all come down to the 4x400. The talented Caveney was added to the team but he’d only done it once this winter. That’s an awful lot of pressure and an awful lot of inexperience.

But his championship pedigree shone through.

Travaglini ran a 50.6 leg to lead off. Caveney, inexperience and all, running his third pressure-packed event, came through with flying colors, a 50.8. Ray Gorzela came on in 52.4 and then it was up to Naveed, with Andover in third place.

And when Naveed gets the baton, the Golden Warriors get ready to celebrate.

“There is nobody in the history of Andover track who is a better relay runner,” said Comeau, high praise considering Andover’s 50-plus years of track excellence under Dick Collins and now his protege.

“He’s the best I’ve ever coached. When he’s running for three others (relay teammates), you can’t beat him. He has so much heart.”

He broke the tape in 3:24.05, nearly four second faster than AHS ran at Division 1 States.

Naveed, a UMass Lowell recruit, said of the Comeau compliment: “At first, I just shrug if off. He says a lot of things. But maybe he’s right. Every meet I usually run the 4x400 and 4x200 and we usually win. It’s awesome to anchor both.”

And its awesome to win the 30th All-State Championships.

“Our sprints coach did all the seeds and we were tied with Northampton and Woburn with 31 points,” explained Naveed, who ran a 49.85 400 meters last spring. “We knew it would be really close. It came down to us rising above and beyond.”

Above and beyond the entire state.

ST. HILAIRE, FLAHERTY STAR

Methuen’s John St. Hilaire was a double-placer with a fifth in the 1,000 (2:33.73) and helping the Rangers to a sixth in the 4x800 along with Fernando Damota, Devin Allen and Matt Marchand.

Central’s Jack McInnis continued his fine hurdling with a fifth-place.

It was a quiet day on the girls’ end but a noticeable exception was North Andover junior Catherine Flaherty clearing 5-4 for third in the high jump. Andover’s Drea Grieco tied for sixth while North Reading’s Cole Godzinski was sixth in the hurdles and Andover’s Sarah Rothmann, Colleen Mullins, Grace O’Hara and Catherine Donovan placed sixth in the 4x800. 

 

 

Mass. All-State Meet (Boys)

Team scores (57 scored): 1. Andover 31, 2. Mansfield 26, 3. Amherst-Pelham 25, 4 Northampton 24; 26.tie Methuen 7, 41.tie Central Catholic 4

Area placers: 55 hurdles: 1. Sebastian Silveira (And) 7.57, 5. Jack McInnis (CC) 7.79, 6. Sean Caveney (And) 7.97; 1,000: 5. John St. Hilaire (Meth) 2:33.73; 4x800: 6. Methuen (Fernando Damota, Devin Allen, St. Hilaire, Matt Marchand) 8:07.63; 4x200: 1. Andover (Caveney, Jeremy Travaglini, Silveira, Hamza Naveed) 1:31.52; 4x400: 2. Andover (Travaglini, Caveney, Ray Gorzela, Naveed) 3:24.05

Mass. All-State Meet (Girls)

Team scores (62): 1. Wachusett 33, 23.tie North Andover 6, 39.tie Andover 4.5, 47.tie North Reading 3

Area placers:

55-meter hurdles: 6. Cole Godzinski (NR) 8.77; 4x800: 6. Andover (Sarah Rothmann, Colleen Mullins, Grace O’Hara, Catherine Donovan) 9:38.11; HJ: 3. Catherine Flaherty (NA) 5-4, 6.tie Drea Grieco (And) 5-2

Game Statistics:

Team scores (57 scored): 1. Andover 31, 2. Mansfield 26, 3. Amherst-Pelham 25, 4 Northampton 24; 26.tie Methuen 7, 41.tie Central Catholic 4

Area placers:

55 hurdles: 1. Sebastian Silveira (And) 7.57, 5. Jack McInnis (CC) 7.79, 6. Sean Caveney (And) 7.97; 1,000: 5. John St. Hilaire (Meth) 2:33.73; 4x800: 6. Methuen (Fernando Damota, Devin Allen, St. Hilaire, Matt Marchand) 8:07.63; 4x200: 1. Andover (Caveney, Jeremy Travaglini, Silveira, Hamza Naveed) 1:31.52; 4x400: 2. Andover (Travaglini, Caveney, Ray Gorzela, Naveed) 3:24.05 

 

0 Story Comments