WHS Sports Roundup: WHS Girls Track Team Captures Northeastern Conference South Title

The Winthrop High girls indoor track team clinched their first Northeastern Conference title in 32 years and attained their best record since 2012 with a double-victory over Salem and Gloucester in a quad-meet held last Wednesday. 

The win over Salem gave coach Mark D’Amico and his squad a perfect 4-0 record in the NEC South, and the triumph over Gloucester gave the team an overall dual-meet mark of 7-4, the best since the 5-1-1 record of the 2012 squad that fell short of an NEC crown because of a loss to Swampscott.

The final tally in the quad-meet showed Winthrop defeating Salem, 71-15, and Gloucester, 54-32, though falling short against Peabody, 54-32. Both Gloucester and Peabody are in the NEC North Division.

“Our team came through with some great performances to win the title,” said D’Amico.

In the high jump, Izzy Mahoney’s leap of 4’-4” gave her a first place against Salem and a third against Gloucester and Peabody. Sydney Crotty came in third against Salem with a jump of 4’-2”.

In the shot-put, senior captain Mary Kate Pote’s throw of 30’-0” earned Mary Kate a first place against Salem and Gloucester and a second against Peabody. Shona Kokoneshi’s toss of 24”-3.35” came in second against Salem and Skyla Zapulla’s heave of 22’-8” gave her a third-place point against Salem.

In the 45-yard hurdles, captain Clare Nargi’s time of 7.3 seconds gave her a first against Salem and Gloucester and a second against Peabody. Crotty, with a clocking of 7.5, came in second against Salem and Gloucester.  Analyse Bruno’s time of 6.7 gave her a third against Salem. 

In the 45-yard dash,  Mahoney’s sprint of 6.1 came in first against Gloucester and Peabody and second against Salem.  Sophia Munson’s dash of 6.6 warned a third against Salem. Alex Gibbons ran a good race with a time of 6.7.

In the 300, Nora McCarey, with a time of 50.4, came in first against Salem and second against Gloucester.  Olivia Skomro’s 52.7 came in third place against Salem. Gianna Knapp ran a good race with a clocking of 53.3.

In the 600 dash, Soneida Dahlquist’s clocking of 1:51.2 outpaced the entire field to earn Soneida a first-place finish against all three opponents. Captain Isabel Skomro ran a solid race with a time of 2:12 to earn a third place against Gloucester. 

In the 1,000, Beatriz Holzbach dominated the field, running a 3:33.9 and getting first place against all three rival teams.  Captain Devon Barry, with a time of 4:20.0, came in second against Salem and third against Gloucester.  Adriana Hester put in a good performance with a run of 4:39.4 for a third place against Salem.  

In the mile, Lilly Skomro’s run of 6:39.7 gave her a first against Salem and Gloucester and a second against Peabody.  Brianna Marley came across the linen  6:53.2 to take second place against Salem and Gloucester.  Gianna Doherty ran a time of 7:50.5 and came in third place against Salem and Gloucester. 

In the two mile event, freshman Libby Carney turned in a personal record time of 14:37.2 to place first against Salem and Gloucester and second against Peabody.  Anyra Silva’s run of 14:44.1 came in second place against Salem and Gloucester.  Ana Baurle earned a third against Salem and Gloucester with a time of 15:59.7.

Finally, in the 4 x 400 relay, Winthrop defeated all three opponents with a time of 4:47.8. Nora McCarey started the team off with a split of 71.9 and passed of to Olivia Skomro, who ran a 75.9. Olivia handed the baton to Bea Holzbach, who crushed it with a split of 68.4. Oneida Dahlquist finished off the Winthrop victory with a 71.1 split.

“It has been a great season for the girls this year they all really worked hard and should be proud of what they achieved,” said D’Amico. “They all came together as a team and put forth their best effort to win.  I could not be more proud of them.”

WHS Boys Power Past Mansfield, In 6-1 Win

The Winthrop High boys hockey team took a giant step forward in their quest to qualify for the post-season state tournament with a 6-1 victory over Mansfield this past Saturday afternoon at Larsen Rink.

The win enabled coach Dale Dunbar’s Vikings to move over the .500 mark with a 7-6-3 record. With five games remaining in the regular season, Winthrop needs just four more points to assure themselves of the needed .500 record that will punch their ticket for a Journey to the Tourney.

After spotting Mansfield (a Division 1 team that is in first place in the Hockomock Kelley-Rex League with a 5-1-3 league mark) a 1-0 lead in the opening period, the Vikings erupted for five unanswered goals in the middle stanza thanks to the offensive firepower of the line of captain Mike Brooks, Joey Holgersen, and JD Parker.

Brooks, assisted by Holgersen, brought the Vikings back to level at 1-1 with a power play goal and Holgersen, assisted by Brooks and Parker, then lit the lamp to make it 2-1.

By then the floodgates were open, as the trio of Brooks-Holgersen-Parker continued their onslaught. Parker, assisted by Holgersen and Connor Hurley, found the back of the Mansfield net on a power play to make 3-1.

Jonathan Lanza, assisted by Parker, made it 4-1 with another power play goal and Lanza struck again before the period ended, assisted by captain Joe Deeb, to give the Vikings a comfortable 5-1 lead after two periods.

Brooks, assisted by Lanza, applied the coup de grace in the final period for the 6-1 finale.

WHS netminder Ryan Hovermale was solid in goal, turning aside 29 shots from a Mansfield team that battled Winthrop to a 2-2 tie in their initial meeting of the season in December.

Dunbar, assistant coach Mike Norris, and their crew will trek to Salem State to face Marblehead, which is 9-3-3 overall and 4-0-2 in the Northeastern Conference North Division, Saturday afternoon at 12:30. The teams deadlocked at 3-3 in their first go-round three weeks ago.

Winthrop will travel to Peabody next Wednesday.

WHS Girls Shine at NEC Championships

A number of members of the Winthrop High girls indoor track & field team turned in stellar performances at the Northeastern Conference championship Meet this past weekend.Senior captain Mary Kate Pote was the top individual performer for Winthrop, placing fourth among a field of 19 in the shot-put with a great throw of 29’-3”. Teammate Shona Kokoneneshi’s toss of 25’-1” landed Shona in 10th place.

In the 55-meter dash, Isabella Mahoney’s sprint of 8.05 gave her an eighth-place finish out of 20 girls in that event. Freshman Sophia Munson ran an 8.4, goof for 16th spot.

In the 55-meter hurdles, captain Clare Nargi ran 9.8 in the preliminaries and then in finals ran her best time of 9.6 to capture a sixth-place medal out of a field of 16 girls. Junior Sydney Crotty had a great race, running a time of 10.7 and coming in 10th place.

In the 300-dash, sophomore Nora McCarey ran a personal best of 48.4 and senior Alexandra Gibbons ran a time of 52.7 to finish the season with a good race.

In the 1000 meter,  Bea Holzbach ran a great race with a clocking of 3:33.6 to finish in seventh place, falling short of sixth place and a medal by a mere one hundredth of a second.  Senior captain Devon Barry ran a 4:17.8 to finish 12th out of 16 runners.

In the mile, junior Lilly Skomro finished with a time of 6:29.1, her best this season. Freshman Libby Carney also ran her best time of the year with a clocking of 6:34.5.

In the 4 x 800, the quartet of Isabel Skomro 2:57.8, Lilly Skomro 3:05.7, Ana Baurle 3:14.7, and Libby Carney 3:10.6 came in seventh place overall with a time of 12:29.3

The girls’ 4 x 200 team ran a spectacular race to come home with a fifth-place medal. Fiona MacPhail led off for Winthrop with a split of 29.5. Fiona handed off to captain Clare Nargi, who ran a speedy 28.5. Sophia Munson took the baton next and ran a personal best of 29.5. Anchor Izzy Mahoney passed a girl and came across with a split of 28.8 to give the WHS team a finishing time of 1:56.8 for their fifth-place ranking among the 11 NEC teams.

However, the top Lady Viking performance of the day belonged to the 4 x 400 relayers. Fiona MacPhail started off with a split of 68.8 to put the WHS foursome near the front of the pack. Fiona handed off to Olivia Skomro, who ran a split of 74.4. Nora McCarey was next for Winthrop and sped off to a time of 68.7. That left the baton in the hands of Bea Holzbach, who flew past a Marblehead girl en route to a superb split of 64.6, enabling the Lady Viking quartet to finish with a time of 4:37.2 and giving them a fantastic third place finish out of nine teams to reach the medal podium.

Girls Hockey Team Splits Two Contests

It was an up-and-down week for the Winthrop High girls hockey team, who split their two contests this past week.

Last Wednesday evening at the Ray Bourque Arena at Endicott College in Beverly, the Lady Vikings came home with a big 4-3 victory over Northeastern Hockey League rival Beverly, spoiling Senior Night festivities for the Lady Panthers.

After spotting Beverly a 1-0 lead, Winthrop quickly struck back on a goal by Emma Holmes, assisted by Mia Martucci. 

“That has been one thing that has been very good for us all season,” said WHS head coach Anthony Martucci. “We call it ‘Response.’ We have been very good at responding right away if the other team scores. That was just a hard-working goal by Emma and it got us rolling.”

Winthrop then took charge in the second period. Olivia Driscoll gave Winthrop the lead with an unassisted goal and that was followed by a pair of power play goals.

The first PPG came from Julia Holmes, assisted by Emma Holmes and Elle English, and the second was scored by Martucci, assisted by Julia Holmes and Abby Holmes. 

However, Beverly scored two goals late in the period to leave matters at 4-3 entering the final 15 minutes.

The third period proved to be a defensive battle. The Lady Viking blue line players and goalie Summer Tallent went into lockdown mode to keep the Lady Panthers from notching the equalizer.

“Our defense of Elle English, Adrianna Rizzotto, Taya Schlichting, Abby Holmes, Fallon Hurley, Brooke Costin, Amelia Spencer, and Casey Petersen all helped in securing the one-goal victory,” noted Martucci.

Three days later, Winthrop dropped a 3-1 decision at non-league opponent Wilmington, which also was celebrating its Senior Day with a huge crowd on hand.

Penalties proved to be a crucial factor in the contest. Winthrop was whistled for eight penalties compared to just one for the home team Lady Wildcats, which essentially meant that the Lady Vikings played shorthanded for the equivalent of more than an entire period of play.

Mia Martucci, assisted by Elle English, accounted for the lone Winthrop goal.

“This was probably the best game I have ever seen Elle English play,” noted Martucci. “She completely dominated shifts and made some great plays both defensively and offensively.”

With the contest deadlocked at 1-1 going into the third period, the refs hit Winthrop with four penalties, plus a five minute major, giving Wilmington a power play for 13 of the final 15 minutes of the game. The Lady Wildcats converted on two of those opportunities for the 3-1 finale.

Winthrop now stands at 6-5-2 overall with five games left in the regular season. Martucci and his crew need five points in order to qualify for the post-season state

tournament. 

In addition, Winthrop stands at 5-2 in the NHL and still has a chance at winning the league title. Masconomet Regional and Peabody presently are tied for first place with 5-1-1 records and the Lady Vikings will play both at home in the coming week.

Winthrop was scheduled begin its quest both to punch a ticket for a Journey to the Tourney and to claim an NHL title when they hosted Masco last night (Wednesday).

They will entertain NHL rival Marblehead this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Larsen Rink and then will host Peabody next Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Larsen. 

Victories over all three NHL foes will give Winthrop an undisputed league title.

Senior Nights This Week for WHS Basketball Teams

Both the Winthrop High boys and girls basketball teams will conduct Senior Night festivities this week.

The WHS girls will entertain Salem tomorrow (Friday) at 6:30 p.m. in a contest that will be highlighted by Senior Night, while the Viking boys will hold their Senior Night events on Monday evening when they host Saugus at 7 p.m.

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