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Samuel doesn't need a photo finish this time

Saturday, May, 09 By David Willis
Staff writer

Samuel keeps winning
In the girls 200, Methuen’s Wileshka Samuel continued her dominant ways, running to victory in 25.52.
“I was actually kind of nervous when I got here and looked at the competition,” said the reigning Eagle-Tribune girls MVP. “But once I got out there and settled down and just focused on winning.”
Unlike last season, when she won at Andover Boosters in a dramatic photo finish, this season, her win was fairly comfortable, ahead of No. 2 Rhyana Freeman of Brookline (26.10).
“I am extremely happy with my performance,” she said. “I really wanted to repeat.”
Johnson finds form
Erika Johnson spent the majority of the spring looking to rediscover her groove after a mishap on ice during the winter led to an injury.
But the Central Catholic senior was in Eagle-Tribune All-Star form yesterday, winning the discus with a 113-7.
“I’m very excited,” she said. “I have been trying to get back into form all spring. Last year I won so I really wanted to do it again. All week I was working on my form and making sure my left arm was in the right spot. I know I have more than 113-7 in me, but  I can live with that today.”
Rangers finish upset
Methuen’s Eric Rosario knew he faced a massive task when he took the baton for the 400-meter anchor leg of the distance medley relay.
“I had to close the gap and (Andover star) Hamza (Naveed) is an amazing runner,” he said. “I didn’t know if I could keep up with him. But I just worked to close in and it paid off.
Rosario teamed with Kevin Denose, Peter Kwakye and Kendrick Nenose to take the spring medley in 1:37.33.
“We wanted to come here and earn a time to qualify for nationals,” he said. “Kendrick gave me the baton in great position and I did my job. All I was thinking was ‘Nationals, nationals!’ I want to go so bad.”
Chen looks healthy
Kevin Chen showed no signs of the torn ACL that ended his football season, running a blazing final leg for Andover’s winning 4x100 relay.
“I had a huge lead going to my leg which was awesome,” said Chen. “All those guys ran great and I just had to run as fast as I could and finish it off.”
Chen teamed with Sean Roselle, Ray Gorzela and Kaleb Jones for the win.
“I was a little tired after the 200,” said Gorzela. “But we all just did everything we could to take it home.”