Quartet wins twice as school records fall

Coach: Machado, Trautman, Halpern, Williams ‘practically ran by themselves’

BY JOE MCCONNELL

The Marblehead High School spring track athletes took a break from the Northeastern Conference regular season meet schedule to participate in the annual MSTCA (Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association) Division 3 State Relays at Oliver Ames High School in Easton on Sunday, April 30.

The headliners were sprinters Ava Machado, Cate Trautman, Sadie Halpern and Le’Daisha Williams, who set school records in the process of winning both the 4x100 and 4x200 relays.

Boys mile relay

Nate Assa, Henrik Adams, Ryan Blestowe and Isaac Gross finished eighth among the state’s best with a time of 20:00.92.

“Nate (Assa) got out to a good start in a pretty dense and aggressive field of runners, but then held his own throughout his leg,” said coach William Herlihy. “Ryan and Henrik both ran low five-minute splits, before (Blestowe) handed off the baton to Isaac to close out the race. It’s challenging to stay focused and run fast when the competition is very spread out. It’s a testament to their work ethic that all of them gave 100% throughout each one of their legs.”

Girls mile relay Grace Mortensen (6:04.47), Cat Piper (6:08.2), Maren Potter (6:14.11) and Marri O’Connell (5:59.15) turned in solid performances in a tough event to finish seventh overall in 24:25.93.

“Cat Piper’s split was a significant improvement from her open mile best time of 6:20 after she picked up nearly 40 meters on the runner ahead of her over four laps,” said Herlihy. “The most difficult part of a distance relay like this is staying engaged when the pack spreads out, but this group kept their foot on the gas as long as possible and ended up with a very solid time.”

Boys shuttle hurdle relay

Alex Hersey, Harrison Curtis, Marc Grazado and Errol Apostolopoulos

Wednesday, May 10

» 4 p.m., baseball, vs. Masconomet, at Seaside Park » 4 p.m., girls and boys track, vs. Beverly, at Village School Hopkins Field » 4:30 p.m., boys lacrosse, vs. Bedford, New Hampshire, at Marblehead High Piper Field

Thursday, May 11 » 4 p.m., boys tennis, vs. Malden Catholic, at Malden Catholic » 4:15 p.m., softball, vs. Wakefield, at Wakefield Memorial High » 4:30 p.m., boys lacrosse, vs. Peabody, at Marblehead High

Piper Field » 4:30 p.m., girls tennis, vs. Saugus, at Marblehead High » 6 p.m., girls lacrosse, vs. Peabody, at Peabody Veterans Memorial High » 6:30 p.m., baseball, vs. Swampscott, at Swampscott Middle

Saturday, May 13 » 9:30 a.m., boys and girls track, MSTCA Invitational, at Norton High

Monday, May 15 » 3:30 p.m., boys tennis, vs. St. Mary’s, Lynn, at Marblehead High » 4 p.m., softball, vs. Woburn, at Marblehead Veterans Middle » 4 p.m., girls tennis, vs. Peabody, at

Track

From P. A9