NORWELL – As the second and final day of the Division 5 outdoor track and field state championships wore on, all eyes shifted toward the points battle that was brewing between host Norwell and Pentucket atop the boys’ team rankings.
After trading leads for much of the day, Pentucket held a 58-54 advantage heading into the 4x400-meter relay, the final track event of the meet.
Although Norwell’s 4x400 quartet – Jackson Adams, Griffin Murphy, Noah Mulligan and Sam Pesko – set a school record with a first-place time of 3:26.63, their historic run wasn’t enough to keep Pentucket from making its own history.
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In the end, the Panthers hoisted their first state title in program history after their 4x400 team of Owen Tedeschi, Stratton Seymour, Jackson Beauparlant and Braeden Roche posted a second-place time of 3:31.47 to earn eight crucial points that helped Pentucket (66) hold off Norwell (64) for a narrow victory.
“They really showed up today — big time — and I couldn’t be prouder of them,” said Steve Derro, Pentucket’s boys’ coach of 28 years. “We got points in all different aspects, and that’s what you have to do to do something like this.”
Derro credited junior Joel Spaulding (11.02) and senior Yanni Kakouris (11.16) for earning 15 valuable points in the 100-meter dash after finishing first and fourth, respectively.
The team’s confidence grew even more once Spaulding and Kakouris partnered with Matt Beaulieu and Kade Dennis for a victory in the 4x100 relay (43.10).
Then the 4x400 sealed the deal.
“I just felt like we had a ton of pressure on our shoulders in this last 4x400,” said Roche, a senior.
Middleboro (56.5) finished third, while North Reading (50) and Weston (49.83) rounded out the boys’ top five.
The girls’ outcome wasn’t as dramatic. There was no stopping North Reading, which cruised to its first outdoor title since 2019 after posting a dominant 125 points.
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Weston (59) took second, and Triton (51) finished third, followed by Norton (47) and Dennis-Yarmouth (38).
“We won four in a row from 2016-19, but then we haven’t since, so it’s nice to have it back,” said North Reading girls’ coach Sotirios Pintzopoulos, who has led the program to seven outdoor titles since he took over in 2007.
“This could be the strongest team I’ve coached. I think points-wise it probably is.”
Sophomore Giuliana Ligor contributed 30 points, with 10 coming in each of her victories in the 400 (56.31), 400 hurdles (1:03.74), and the 4x100 (49.40) alongside Kayla Budny, Georgia Robarts and Ava McIntyre.
McIntyre, a senior set to run at Holy Cross, added a title in the long jump (18-05.25) and a second-place finish in the 100 (12.48) to contribute 28 points.
She said it was especially sweet to win after capturing the Division 4 indoor title this winter.
“That was the seniors’ first time winning indoor, so now going back-to-back with outdoor is really special for us,” McIntyre said. “We knew we could do it. We were strong, we trained hard and we got the result we wanted.”
MIAA Division 5 Championship
Boys
100m — 1. Joel Spaulding, Pentucket, 11.02; 2. Nathan Miller, North Reading, 11.04; 3. Chris Oman, East Bridgewater, 11.1.
110m hurdles — 1. Charles Montross, Middleborough, 15.21; 2. Nathan Donahue, Middleborough, 15.6; 3. Sam Balsis, Old Rochester, 15.88.
200m — 1. John Morgan, Randolph, 22.45; 2. Yanni Kakouris, Pentucket, 22.61; 3. Nathan Miller, North Reading, 22.63.
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400m — 1. William Hood, Quabbin, 49.74; 2. Parker Burns, Triton, 49.98; 3. Russell Hertel, Oakmont, 50.89.
400m hurdles — 1. Sam Balsis, Old Rochester, 57.68; 2. Duante Ambersely, Dennis-Yarmouth, 58.54; 3. Andrew Fortin, Bishop Stang, 58.8.
800m — 1. Matt Rooney, Dover-Sherborn, 1:57.48; 2. Ben Tavares, Weston, 1:58.16; 3. Caleb White, Norwell, 1:58.5.
Mile — 1. Lekan Sontonwa, Middleborough, 4:24.15; 2. Dennis Love, Lenox, 4:24.59; 3. Neil Aradhya, Groton-Dunstable, 4:25.25.
2-mile — 1. Neil Aradhya, Groton-Dunstable, 9:31.51; 2. Zak Metzger, Groton-Dunstable, 9:32.58; 3. Dennis Love, Lenox, 9:33.9.
4 x 100 — 1. Pentucket, 43.10; 2. Dover-Sherborn, 43.77; 3. Randolph, 43.87.
4 x 400 — 1. Norwell, 3:26.63; 2. Pentucket, 3:31.47; 3. Old Rochester, 3:31.54.
4 x 800 — 1. Norwell, 8:09.45; 2. East Bridgewater, 8:10.20; 3. Triton, 8:10.79
High jump — 1. Michel Mondesir, East Bridgewater, 6 feet 4 inches; 2. Sam Balsis, Old Rochester, 6-2; 3. Owen Klatka, Pittsfield, 6-0.
Long jump — 1. Brian Gallagher, Cardinal Spellman, 22 feet 0 inches; 2. Javon Shanks, Middleborough, 21-2; 3. Nathan Miller, North Reading, 21-1.
Pole vault — 1. Vincent Pastore, North Reading, 0 feet 11 inches; 2. Nicolas Johnson, North Reading, 0-11; 3. Caleb Graupera, Weston, 0-10.
Triple jump — 1. Parker Burns, Triton, 44 feet 2 inches; 2. Nathan Monteiro, Cardinal Spellman, 43¾; 3. Noah Schifano, North Reading, 42-9¼.
Shot put — 1. Jacob Cookinham, Bishop Stang, 64 feet 5 inches; 2. Matt Darrin, Dover-Sherborn, 51-0; 3. Dylan Paradis, Groton-Dunstable, 46-1.
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Discus — 1. Ari Levine, Hopedale, 146 feet 5 inches; 2. William Pessina, Pentucket, 142-6; 3. Griffin Pratt, Dennis-Yarmouth, 137-11.
Javelin — 1. Gauthier Bodet, Weston, 172 feet 0 inches; 2. Michael Kruse, Stoneham, 169-0; 3. Chase Goldberg, Lynnfield, 161-1.
Pentathlon — 1. Nathan Askjaer, Cohasset, 2,717 points; 2. Ryan Hayes, Hopedale, 2,528; 3. Stratton Seymour, Pentucket, 2,495.
Team results — 1. Pentucket 66; 2. Norwell 64; 3. Middleborough 56.5.
Girls
100m — 1. Jillian Strynar, Norton, 12.41 seconds; 2. Ava McIntyre, North Reading, 12.48; 3. Sage Smith, Pentucket, 12.58.
100m hurdles — 1. Isabel Wheeler, Middleborough, 15; 2. Mia Lee-Bowens, Middleborough,15.17; 3. Hayden MacLellan, North Reading, 15.31.
200m — 1. Breanna Braham, Dennis-Yarmouth, 24.87; 2. Ali Murphy, Norton, 25.15; 3. Jillian Strynar, Norton, 26.04.
400m — 1. Giuliana Ligor, North Reading, 56.31; 2. Breanna Braham, Dennis-Yarmouth, 57.33; 3. Morgan Hayward, Apponequet, 58.0
400m hurdles — 1. Giuliana Ligor, North Reading, 1:03.73; 2. Sophia Lesinski, Triton, 1:05.29; 3. Morgan Hayward, Apponequet, 1:06.57.
800m — 1. Reilly Nussbaum, Cohasset, 2:17.44; 2. Brenna Sears, Pope Francis, 2:19.07; 3. Siena Lauze, Dennis-Yarmouth, 2:22.58.
Mile — 1. Brenna Sears, Pope Francis, 5:13.14; 2. Olivia Jackson, Weston, 5:14.58; 3. Alice Culver, Lenox, 5:15.19.
2-mile — 1. Olivia Jackson, Weston, 11:16.62; 2. Alice Culver, Lenox, 11:20.26; 3. Annalise Butler, North Reading, 11:23.28.
4 x 100 — 1. North Reading, 49.40; 2. Norton, 49.91; 3. St. Paul, 50.43.
4 x 400 — 1. Triton, 4:02.99; 2. Weston, 4:05.58; 3. Nipmuc, 4:07.41.
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4 x 800 — 1. Dennis-Yarmouth, 9:44.12; 2. Triton, 10:00.41; 3. Weston, 10:08.68.
High jump — 1. Natalie Mutschler, Hanover, 5 feet 4 inches; 2. Zoe Santos, Norton, 5-4; 3. Jaina Campbell, Medway, 5-4.
Long jump — 1. Ava McIntyre, North Reading, 18 feet 5¼ inches; 2. Madison Vant, North Reading, 18-4½; 3. Teagan Wilson, Triton, 18-3.
Pole vault — 1. Hayden MacLellan, North Reading, 10 feet 6 inches; 2. Julia DeAngelis, North Reading, 9-0; 3. Rylee Dionne, Oakmont, 9-0.
Triple jump — 1. Lily MacDonald, Norwell, 36 feet 3.25 inches; 2. Teagan Wilson, Triton, 35-8.5; 3. Laura Hubert, Fairhaven, 35-4.
Shot put — 1. Catherine Sargent, Dedham, 42 feet 0 inches; 2. Kniya White, Randolph, 35-0; 3. Abigail Gerber, North Reading, 34-11.
Discus — 1. Catherine Sargent, Dedham, 124 feet 4 inches; 2. Charity Johnson, Medway, 112-9; 3. Anastasia Hayes, Swampscott, 112-8.
Javelin — 1. Savannah Gao, Hudson, 128 feet 0 inches; 2. Madison Vant, North Reading, 124-0; 3. Layn Cepeda, Dedham, 117-0.
Pentathlon — 1. Madison Vant, North Reading, 3,011 points; 2. Lily MacDonald, Norwell, 2,942; 3. Natalie Mutschler, Hanover, 2,635.
Team results — 1. North Reading 125 point; 2. Weston 59; 3. Triton 51.