Swampscott winter track and field underclassmen got a chance to shine and test the level of competition at their grade level at the Northeast Conference Freshman-Sophomore Championship on Monday, December 29.
After a few days off for holiday break, the younger half of the track program made the trip north to Gloucester High School to compete against athletes from eight nearby schools. Over 100 athletes, and even more fans, packed the noisy gym for 22 events split evenly between boys and girls.
A number of Big Blue athletes earned their way to the top of the podium in their respective events. As teams, the boys finished in third place and the girls finished in eighth place.
Swampscott Head Coach Joe Tenney said both the coaching staff and athletes look forward to the meet each year.
“It’s a smaller group than we normally have had in the past, but those that are here are competing well,” said Tenney.
Tenney said the developmental meets like Monday’s help younger athletes get used to the competition at the high school level.
“It’s a big transition for any athlete,” said Tenney. “They get to see the difference in competition and conditioning.”
Sophomore Edgar Corona Garcia finished in first place in the boys 55-meter sprint, with a time just above seven seconds.
Corona Garcia also helped a team of four Swampscott runners take home first place in the 4×200-meter relay. Corona Garcia participated alongside Cole Kacuba, Ty Bush and Jonmichael Sagala.
Big Blue freshman Lincoln Geaney crossed the finish line first in the boys 1-mile race. Geaney finished with a time of 4 minutes and 55 seconds, which was ten seconds faster than the second-place finisher. The starting gun cracked through the chatter and cheers, and Geaney took the lead from start to finish.
Crossing the line first felt “nice,” Geaney said.
Swampscott sophomore Annabelle Averett finished in first out of 13 girls who ran the 1,000-meter event. Averett’s time of 3 minutes and 24 seconds brought her to the top of the podium.
Tenney gave credit to assistant coaches, who specialize in different events, for getting the athletes prepared in their respective competitions.
“The whole coaching staff is very excited for the younger kids, including myself,” said Tenney. “It’s always nice to see what they are capable of doing.”
The track and field teams will compete against Winthrop High School next, at home on Thursday, January 8 at 4:30 p.m, kicking off a busy month.
“In January we get into some big events, invitationals and relay meets,” said Tenney. “But it’s going great so far.”
