Upward movement in the South

The Winthrop High girls cross country team turned on the jets in the final mile to pull out an 18-44 win over Salem yesterday on the Deer Island course.

“This was a huge win for us,” said WHS head coach Warren MacPhail. “It brings us one step closer to the NEC South Conference title.

“The score doesn’t indicate how close the race was,” added MacPhail. “Salem was ahead at the 1.5 mile mark, so the girls needed a strong last mile push from the whole team to win this one.”

Leading the way for the Lady Vikings, as she has all season, was Jordan Griffiths with a first place finish. Jordan’s clocking of 18:20 was a personal record (PR) by 1:05 on the local course.

Kaitlyn Hersey took third in 18:53, which also was a PR by 1:36. Carly O’Keefe was next across the line in 19:21, another PR by 1:44, followed by Michaela McCarthy in fifth in 19:49, a PR for Michaela by 1:55. Corey Charvis completed the Winthrop scoring with a sixth place finish in 19:54, a PR for her by 1:55.

Also competing for the Lady Vikings and turning in personal bests were Maria Rago in 20:24 in seventh place (this was Maria’s first home race); Julia Wallace in eighth in 20:55 (a PR by 0:35); Erica Mazzone in 11th in 21:41 (a PR by 0:40); Lucy Floyd in 13th in 22:01 (which shaved an impressive 2:24 off her previous best time); Alex Ferri in 24:33 (a PR by 1:42); Abbey Evans in 25:26 (a PR by 1:30); Lauren Costegan in 26:21 (a PR by 2:27); and Jenn Collignon in 27:33 (a PR by 2:05).

On the boys’ side, the Vikings were unable to crack the top three Salem runners and fell by a margin of 24-31. As with the girls, the boys also turned in PR performances across the board. Nick Floyd was the first Viking across the line in fourth place in 17:10, a PR for Nick by 1.:26.

He was followed by teammates Brian Manning in 17:41 (a PR by 1:27), Mike Gennaco in 17:47 (this was Mike’s first home race), and Jerry Driscoll in 18:06 (a PR by 0:34).

Joe Bosco took ninth in a time of 19:04, an amazing 3:45 better than his previous best time, to complete the Winthrop scoring.

Leo Haskell ran a 20:50 in his first home race; Mario Mazzone finished in 21:28, a PR by 0:30; Mike Mazzone came home in 22:47, a PR by 2:13; and Frank Mazzuchelli crossed the line in 26:37, a PR by 1:40.

“Everybody set new personal records, which was very impressive and what you want to see at this point of the season,” added MacPhail.

The Winthrop teams will run at Lynn English next Tuesday.

WHS golfers defeat Wakefield

The Winthrop High golf team split its two matches this past week to keep alive their chances of qualifying for the post season state tourney.

Coach Peter Lyons’s squad defeated Wakefield 39.5-32.5 at the local golf club last Thursday. Senior Captain Jake Rand turned in a sterling round of 36, one over par for the nine holes, to defeat his Wakefield opponent handily, 7-2.

Adam Lundberg was a winner at No. 2 by a score of 5.5-3.5, as was Pat Brogan at No. 3. Mario Pasco at No. 4 was next into the clubhouse and recorded a 5-4 victory over his Wakefield counterpart. Matt Todisco at No. 6 likewise was a 5-4 winner.

Kevin Marley at No. 7 and Stephen Goddard at No. 8 both held their own against their Wakefield foes, halving their matches, 4.5-4.5. Tyler Pettee in the No. 5 slot contributed 2.5 points to the Winthrop scorecard.

On Friday the Vikings took on one of the perennial powers of the Northeastern Conference, Danvers, and came out on the short end of a 45.5-26.5 decision. Rand turned in a round of a par 35, but with his Danvers rival shooting a 33, Jake dropped his match, 5.5-3.5.

That’s pretty much how it went for the rest of Jake’s teammates, with only Pasco at No. 4 defeating his Danvers counterpart, 5-4. Todisco halved his match at No. 6 with a birdie on the final hole.

The golfers now stand at 6-7 on the season and had three matches left as of press time, of which they need to win two. They took on Swampscott (Tuesday) at Tedesco Country Club and hosted Gloucester yesterday (Wednesday). They play Saugus at Cedar Glen today.

Next Monday is the semifinal round of the State Tournament at Hillview Country Club in No. Reading if the Vikings qualify. Rand will go in any event as Winthrop’s representative in the individual competition.

On Tuesday of next week, Rand and Lundberg will compete in the NEC tourney, which is strictly an individual tournament in an 18 hole format at Tedesco.

Tough stretch for soccer girls

The Winthrop High girls soccer team hit a tough stretch this past week, taking on three of the top teams in the Northeastern Conference, of which two, Peabody and Danvers, are perennial powerhouses from the NEC’s Large School Division.

“We knew that this would be a difficult week for us,” said WHS head coach Tracy Martucci, “but we gave it our best. I was especially proud of the way we played against Danvers, which is a team that in the past has beaten us by big margins.”

Tuesday’s game with the Lady Falcons saw Winthrop battle to a 1-0 deficit after the first half. Although Danvers eventually pulled away for a 4-0 triumph, the effort pleased Martucci.

“We shifted our alignment a bit to play more defensively and the girls played hard the entire game,” said the coach. “We played Danvers much better than we have in the past.”

In losses of 6-1 at Peabody and Gloucester last week, sophomore Liana Ferullo scored the goals for the Lady Vikings. Ariane Seymour was credited with an assist on one of the tallies. Ferullo is the team’s top goal scorer with six on the season.

Martucci and her crew play at Lynn Classical today (Thursday) and then will be back at home next week to host Saugus on Monday evening under the lights at Miller (6:30 start), Lynn English next Wednesday, and Shawsheen next Friday.

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