BOYS TRACK
The track at Ipswich High School is a bit shorter than most, and as a result its hurdle race is just 40 yards.
But that's one thing that senior Sam McMahon wasn't complaining about after he set a new school record of 5.53 seconds in the event when the Tigers beat North Reading (60-26) and fell to North Andover (451/2-401/2) yesterday.
"He ran a time that's as fast as some of our guys run the dash with no hurdles," said Tiger coach Pat Rich. "With just the three hurdles his stride is always the same - he ran it perfectly for our facility."
After running a 5.64 last time out, McMahon, a Georgetown native, was finally able to eclipse the four year old mark of Jeremy Arik, which was 5.60.
"He's really been working on his starts and trying to anticipate the gun," said Rich. "He came close in the last meet and was able to do it today."
In other action at the meet, the Tigers (6-2, 2-2 Cape Ann Large) got wins from Cobb Mathey in the 300, Nick Philpot in the 600, Neil Berzins in the shot put and Greg Krathwohl in the mile.
St. John's Prep 49, Xaverian 46
Trailing heading into the climactic 4x400 relay, the Eagles' squad of Kevin Creedon, Matt Cullen, Jared Kaminski and Sean Hanlon edged the Hawks with a time of 3:35.4 to win the meet. Mike Masse won the mile in 4:34 and the 1,000 in 2:36 a little over an hour apart to inspire the victory, which saw nearly 30 personal bests according to coach Ray Carey.
Other winners for St. John's (3-1) included Josh Tranfaglia in the shot put (46-6), Chris Grant in the high jump (5-9), Matt Chitro in the hurdles (8.12), Creedon in the 300 (37.8) and Hanlon in the 600 (1:26.5).
Cardinal Spellman 46, Bishop Fenwick 22
The Crusaders swept the mile behind personal bests from John Surabian (4:54), Dan Crane (4:55), and Bill Harrington (5:00), but it wasn't enough to edge the Cardinals. Fenwick also ran the table in the shot put. Lucas Sobezenski (43-4), Mike Francis (41-3), and Cody Johnson (39-7) took the top three spots for Fenwick.
GIRLS TRACK
Ipswich snags win, tie in tri-meet
The Tigers (6-2-1) downed North Andover, 50-36, and tied North Reading, 43-43, after dropping the 4x400 relay by a nose in a photo finish. Excelling for Ipswich were senior April Hoffmann, who won the hurdles in 6.24 and hasn't lost a race this winter, Kayla Jernegan, who won the 300 in 43.0, Mel McFayden, who won the 600 in 1:37, and captain Becca Fanning, who won the mile in 5:39.
Bishop Fenwick 52, Cardinal Spellman 16
Senior captain Ali Trainor ran a personal best 12:54 to win the 2-mile, served as the leadoff leg in the winning 4x400 relay team (4:30), and took second in the high jump to lead Fenwick to a win at the Reggie Lewis Center. Emily D'Iorio took first in the dash (8.2) and placed third in the shot (26-3) to help the Crusaders to victory.
Lexi Culkeen won the shot put with a personal best 36-9, and Elly O'Leary was first with a personal best 3:12 in the 1,000 for Fenwick.
BOYS BASKETBALL
North Shore Tech 74, Mystic Valley 52
Junior forward Ryan Mahan had a monster game for the Bulldogs (4-6), scoring 31 points and grabbing 17 rebounds as his team garnered a measure of revenge by beating Mystic Valley after losing to them the first time out. Senior captain Billy Ahearn also had a terrific day for North Shore, scoring 29 points. Sophomore David St. Pierre contributed 10 assists in the win.
"We had a great 1-2 punch with Ryan and Billy," said Bulldogs head coach Jody Norton. "We were also patient in their zone, and that patience led to good shots. We shared the ball well and waited for the best shot each time down."
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Mystic Valley 42, North Shore Tech 17
Freshman point guard Heather Hicks had her third straight game in double figures with 11, but it wasn't enough for North Shore to pick up its first win. Melissa Reyes also played well for the Bulldogs, ripping down 10 rebounds.
GYMNASTICS
Marblehead 130.05, Revere 101.55
Morgan Pickett won all four events and captured the all-around with a 36.4. Pickett scored well on vault (8.9), bars (8.7), beam (9.3), and floor (9.5) to lead Marblehead (3-3). Cassie Noonan tied for first on bars (8.7) and added thirds on beam (8.6) and floor (7.8), while Alexis Lemeiux pitched in with a second on bars (7.9).
SWIMMING
Salem 90, Revere 62
The Witches (2-2) won every event in a big win over the visiting Patriots. Tommy Regan won both the 100 fly and the 100 free while Rosie Strom contributed a win in the 100 back. Josh Dimino was first in diving, Taylor Duncan won the 200 IM, Kristen Dooley took the 50 free and Anatasia Zoileck came out on top in the 200 free to help Salem to victory.
COLLEGES
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Salem State 71, Westfield State 52
Three Lady Vikings in double figures spurred the rout that kept SSC unbeaten atop the MASCAC at 2-0, 11-3 overall. Senior Lindsey Watkins had game highs of 18 points (on 7 of 10 shooting) and nine rebounds to go with four assists, two blocks and two steals. Guard Jakoya Wilkins contributed a 7 of 11 night that added up to 17 points along with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Salem State led by 10 at the break and forced a total of 30 turnovers - 27 in the second half - and held Westfield to 27 percent shooting in what coach Tim Shea called a "good all around performance." Danielle Jenkins (14 points) rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Lady Vikings, who also dominated the boards with a plus-11 margin.
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Endicott 3, Elms 2
The Gulls (1-1) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to claim the final three sets and a tight victory over the visitors from Elms College by game scores of 30-21, 28-30, 24-30, 31-29 and 15-11. A.J. Wikofsky set an EC record with 35 kills and 40.5 total points while Jordan Durant chipped in 14 kills and setter Ben Foster dished out a total of 59 assists.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Westfield State 77, Salem State 74
The Vikings missed what would've been the game-tying shot in the final seconds and lost their first MASCAC contest of the year to fall to 10-4, 1-1. Salem State led by as many as 10 in the second half before Westfield was able to battle back and take control. Rawleigh Preaster led the way with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Dylan Holmes had 16 and 10 and Marquis Victor chipped in 16 of his own.
