WHS Sports Roundup

WHS boys win two more contests

The Winthrop High boys soccer team enjoyed a successful week, earning victories in both of its contests.

Last Wednesday coach Kye Gagin and his Vikings made their long trek to Greater Lawrence a worthwhile adventure, returning home with an 8-0 triumph.

Winthrop moved out quickly to assume control of the contest, grabbing a 5-0 lead in the first half on goals by Loert Mana, Eric Mendoza, Chris Nunes, Juan Guauque and Ben Prew.

Prew once again reached the back of the GL net after the intermission and teammates Joe Romano and Ari Hain provided added insurance.

For Hain, Mendoza, Prew, and Romano, the goals marked their first career varsity goals. Nunes and Guauque also registered assists, as did Zane Bower and Michael Soares.

This past Monday’s encounter with Whittier Tech at a windy Miller Field proved to be a 180 from the easy Greater Lawrence win for the Vikings, as they edged Whittier by a slim margin of 1-0.

The lone goal over the course of the 80 minutes of play was scored by Nunes, who neatly curled a shot into the corner. Aman Cherki got the assist.

WHS keeper Augie Cherico recorded his fourth shutout of the season.

“We outplayed Whittier for most of the game, but couldn’t finish our chances,” said Gagin. “Whittier’s goalkeeper did a great job to keep them in the game.”

The Vikings, who now stand at 5-2-2 on the season, were scheduled to travel to Methuen yesterday (Wednesday). They will trek to Greater Lawrence again on Monday and then will host Greater Lawrence next Thursday evening in a contest that will be highlighted by Senior Night festivities.

WHS girls bounce back from first loss

The Winthrop High girls soccer team bounced back from its first loss of the season last Thursday to record a 4-0 victory at Whittier Tech this past Monday.

Junior Mia Martucci led the Vikings’ offensive effort, earning three points with a goal and a pair of assists.

After Martucci, assisted by Grace Galuris, gave Winthrop a 1-0 lead, she played a key role in the next Viking tally. Mia dribbled across the 18 and delivered a beautiful pass to Galuris, who one-touched the ball to the center for a waiting Maura Dorr, who in turn struck her own one-touch into the back of the Whittier net.

“We had a lot of great passing yesterday throughout the team,” noted WHS head coach Tracey Martucci.

Lily Tallent, assisted by Martucci, made it 3-0 with a superb shot to beat the Whittier keeper and Maddie Stiglets, assisted by Emma Holmes, made it 4-0 before the end of the first half.

“We had a bunch of opportunities in the second half, but just couldn’t score,” noted Martucci. “Our passing has been great. We try to set each other up, but sometimes we can’t get the shots off. But I’m super proud of how the girls have been playing.”

Winthrop absorbed its first loss of the season last Thursday at Boston Latin, 7-0.

“That game was a big wake-up call for us,” said Martucci. “We faced a very skilled D-1 team in Boston Latin. Seeing the teams that we have this season from the Commonwealth Athletic Conference, I think we weren’t prepared for a talented and experienced team. Most of the games this season we didn’t have a lot of pressure when having the ball and they were on us right away, and unfortunately we just couldn’t adapt to the pressure being put on us.

“I have to give my goalies, Miya Grein and Summer Tallent, who are both actually starting defenders, but who volunteered to jump in net this season, a lot of credit. We are thankful to have them,” added Martucci.

The Winthrop girls, who now stand at 7-1 on the season, were scheduled to play at Northeast Regional yesterday (Wednesday). They will entertain Boston Latin this coming Monday evening (6:30 kick-off) at Miller Field.

WHS girls track races to fast start

The Winthrop High girls indoor track has jumped out to a fast start to its delayed, turned-outdoor season with a pair of victories over Northeastern Conference rivals Saugus and Salem.

The first meet of the winter-spring campaign on March 25 saw the Vikings race past Saugus, 63-15, at Miller Field.

In the high jump, Izzy Mahoney came in first with a leap of 4’-6”.

In the shot-put, Skyla Zappulla took first with a personal record (PR) throw of 24’-5.75.” Tatyanna Lewis came in second with a toss of 22’-11.” Also competing in the shot were Caroline Hickey, who had a throw of 22’-1/2”; Olivia Quigley, who threw 19’-3.5”; and Francesca Conners, with a toss of 18’-6.5”.

In the 55-meter hurdles, Zappulla earned her second first-place finish of the day with a time of 11.82. Olexis Tallent grabbed second spot with a clocking of 12.1.

In the 55-meter dash, Mahoney sped to another first-place finish with a time of 7.8. Izzy was followed by teammate Sophia Munson, who came in second with a time of 8.3. Gianna Knapp ran a time of 9.2 in the 55 meter sprint.

In the 300 dash, Bridget Hickey ran a PR of 56.0 to earn a second-place finish.

In the 600 dash, Sage Calinda ran a PR time of 2:10 to earn her a second-place finish. Grabbing third place in the race was Adrianna Hester with a time of 2:50.

In the 1000-meter run, Beatriz Holzbach led the field with a very fast time of 3:44.8. Teammate Kailey Sullivan took second place with a PR clocking of 4:37.6.

The Vikings swept the mile, with Libby Carney coming in first with a time of 7:07.1, followed by Gianna Doherty with a PR of 7:23.7 and Heather Buccini with a PR of 7:43.6.

In the two-mile run, April Ferguson came in first with a time of 15:12.

In the 4 X 400 relay, Winthrop came in first with a time of 4:46.2.  In the first leg Munson ran a 68.6 and handed it off to Mahoney, who sped away from her Saugus counterpart and opened up the gap even more with a split of 69.5. Izzy passed the baton to Tallent, who ran a 76.8, and Olexis in turn handed-off to Holzbach, who had a split of 71.2.

The Vikings next hosted the Salem Witches last Wednesday and ran away to a 67-13 triumph.

In the high jump, Izzy Mahoney took the top spot with a leap of 4’’8.”

In the shot-put, Tatyanna Lewis came in first with a PR throw of 23-’8.5.” Skyla Zappulla came in second with a throw of 23’-4.25.” Also competing for Winthrop were Caroline Hickey, with a toss of 20’-7”; Olivia Quigley, who threw 19’-9.5”; Francesca Conners with a heave of 19’-.5”; and  Rachael Ramano with a throw of 19’-.5.”

In the 55-meter hurdles, Skyla Zappulla came in first with a PR of 11.6 and Olexis Tallent came in second with a PR of 11.7.

In the 55-meter dash, Izzy Mahoney earned another first-place finish with a time of 7.8, followed by Sophia Munson, who came in second with her PR of 8.0.

In the 300 dash, Beatriz Holzbach ran a PR of 46.4 to grab first place.

In the 600 dash, Bridget Hickey ran a PR of 2:18 to score three points for Winthrop with a second-place finish.

In the 1000-meter run, Gianna Doherty earned herself a first-place finish with a PR of 4:05. Coming in second was Kailey Sullivan with a PR clocking of 4:37.0.

In the mile, Winthrop had a sweep with Libby Carney coming in first with a time of 6:55.0, Sage Calinda taking second with a PR of 7:14.0, and Heather Buccini snagging third place with a PR of 7:41.6.

In the two-mile race, April Ferguson came in first with a PR of 14:19, followed by  Adrianna Hester in second place with a time of 18:38.

In the 4 X 400 relay, Winthrop came in first with a time of 4:51.3. In the first leg Sophia Munson ran a 75.1 and handed off to Izzy Mahoney, who opened up a big lead with a split of 69.6. Izzy passed the baton to Olexis Tallent, who ran a 77.3, setting the stage for Beatriz Holzbach to run away from her Salem opponent with the fastest split of the race in 69.0.

“The girls have been working really hard this season to improve themselves,” said WHS heads coach Mark D’Amico. “They all wanted to run and compete after not being able to run track for more than a year.

“After winning the South Conference championship in the 2020 indoor season for the first Winthrop title since 1988, the girls were eager to get back to competing and pick up where they left off last year,” D’Amico continued.

“Because Indoor Track is in the Fall II season for other sports, we lost a number of our athletes this spring to soccer and some to volleyball and cheering,” D’Amico added. “This team has a lot of new faces, but with the leadership of the many seniors on the team and with the help of lead captain Izzy Mahoney, the team has shown great determination to better themselves and it is showing up in meets. We are now 2-0 and working to improve on that record.”

D’Amico and his crew are scheduled to host Gloucester today (Thursday) and will trek to Swampscott next Wednesday.