In just a few short weeks, Carra Fitzgerald has made her presence known on the PVIAC Indoor Track scene.
The Mahar Regional School seventh-grader cruised to victory in Friday night’s Meet No. 6, besting the field in the 2-mile with a time of 12 minutes, 18.49 seconds, to help the Senators in action at Smith College in Northampton.
Fitzgerald won the early session 2-mile, but also had the top time in the event between the two sessions. She aided a Mahar team that split a pair of dual meets. The Senators beat Hampden Charter, 72-21, but fell to powerhouse South Hadley, 63-32.
The 12:18 finish broke the school record in the event, but that mark only held for two days. Fitzgerald broke her own mark on Sunday, posting a time of 12:01.9 at the Coaches Invitational in Boston. That won her heat and qualified her for the state meet in the process.
The youngster wasn’t the only Mahar athlete to post a big day. Junior Kamryn Reilly ripped off an individual victory in the long jump, posting a top leap of 16 feet even. Reilly was also second in the 55-meter dash (7.71 seconds), third in the high jump (4 feet, 8 inches) and fifth in the 300 meters (46.36).
Senior Chloe Taddeo scored a fourth-place finish for the Senators in the shot put (30-4¾). Emma Savoy was fifth in the 1,000 meters (3:39) and eighth in the 2-mile (14:27), while Jordyn Berry scored a ninth-place finish in the high jump (4-4) and 14th place in the 55 hurdles (11.28). Also contributing toward Mahar’s outing Friday were Caroline Chase (seventh in 600, 13th in 55) and Grace Rich (10th in the mile).
Mohawk 70, Pioneer 24
South Hadley 81, Mohawk 14
South Hadley 88, Pioneer 6 — Meghan Davis was the runner-up in the 1,000 meters, crossing in 3:15.88 to help Mohawk earn a split with Pioneer and South Hadley in early session action Friday.
Davis was also ninth in the 600 with a time of 1:52.93.
Freshman Erica Szewczyk was the runner-up behind Fitzgerald in the 2-mile, finishing in 12:59, while teammate Caitlin Upton was seventh in the event at 13:39. Upton added a 15th-place showing in the 600 (2:04), and Szewczyk took eighth in the mile (6:07).
Seventh-grader Sierra Upton nabbed 11th in the mile (6:13.99) for the Warriors, while the tandem of Lily Wickland-Shearer (10.75) and Hailey Buchanan (10.79) took seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 55-meter hurdles.
Pioneer received a top performance from senior Avery Kelton, who cracked the top 10 in the high jump thanks to a ninth-place leap of 4-4.
Also contributing for the Panthers were eighth-grader Laila Heilman and sophomore Liesel Nygard. Heilman was 12th in the mile (6:24) while Nygard took 12th in the 55-hurdles (11.14).
Greenfield 78, Commerce 16
Southwick 61, Greenfield 34 — It turned out to be quite a day for young distance runners, as Greenfield eighth-grader Lulu Calame joined Mahar’s Fitzgerald as winners in the 2-mile. Calame claimed first in the night session, posting a winning time of 12:53.62, to help the Green Wave to a split with Commerce and Southwick.
The eighth-grader also finished sixth in the mile (6:12.59).
Sophomore Victoria Marin scored a fifth-place finish in the long jump (15-4) and wound up 8th in the 55-hurdles (10.23) and 13th in the 55 (8.21). Freshman Hannah Marchefka posted two top 10 finishes, crossing fourth in the 1000 (3:39.45) and taking 10th in the mile (6:32.38).
Junior Kacia Kinsmith wound up eighth in the high jump (4-4), with sophomore Alexia Farrick 11th (4-0). Shane Subeldia (12th) and Emmaline Thurston (14th) keyed the 600 team for the Wave, while Kandice Lu (10th) and Eva Heath (12th) aided the cause in the 2-mile. In the shot put, Kaylah Eggsware was 14th (23-11¼) and Samantha Santos was 15th (23-11).
Athol 65, Commerce 13
Athol 67, Sci-Tech 7 — Senior Shelby Mailloux and junior Grace Dufour helped the Red Raiders sweep meets with Commerce and Sci-Tech in the night session.
Mailloux finished 10th in both the high jump (4-2) and 600 meters (2:00.96), while Dufour wound up ninth in the long jump (14-10½) and ninth in the 300 (46.43).
Freshman Kassidy Swan added a ninth-place finish in the 2-mile (13:56.83) and teammate Analyse Merlini captured an 11th-place finish in the shot put (24-9¾).
Pioneer 69, Mohawk 18
South Hadley 65, Pioneer 29
South Hadley 70, Mohawk 20 — Scott McDonough continued his dominant winter in the long jump during Friday’s early session. The Pioneer senior picked up another individual victory, besting the field with a top leap of 21 feet, 9¼ feet.
McDonough also scored well for the Panthers in the 55, earning runner-up honors with a time of 6.99 seconds, and he was also second in the 300 with a time of 38.46 seconds.
Fellow senior Jake Wallace took fourth in the high jump (5-2) to help Pioneer go 1-1 in dual meets with Mohawk and South Hadley. Wallace was also 14th in the long jump (16-8½).
Ben Taylor took ninth in the 1000 (3:13.93) and Jake Comiskey was 10th in the shot put (33-9½). Jack Loud earned an 11th-place showing in the 1000 (3:15.23), while Gavin Curtis was also 11th in the 600 (1:44.14).
Mohawk received a top performance from freshman Dennis Simmons in the 2-mile, where he was third overall in 10:49. Simmons was also 13th in the 1000 with a time of 3:18.89.
Classmate Cullen Brown scored three top 10 finishes. He was third in the 55 meters (7.10), fourth overall in the 300 (39.26) and ninth in the long jump (18-1½).
Mahar 55, Hampden Charter 21
South Hadley 75, Mahar 15 — The Senators split a pair, riding a third-place finish from freshman Liam O’Donnell in the 1000 meters with a time of 3:05.45.
O’Donnell made it two top 10 finishes when he snagged a seventh-place showing in the 2-mile (11:03). Camdyn Johnson was 10th in the 2-mile.
Senior Nathan Sackowicz added a top 10 finish in the 300, where he was eighth overall (41.43). Alex Currier was 11th in the 300 and added a 13th-place finish in the 55. Cameron Doyle was 12th in the 600, and Thomas Shortis gave Mahar a 12th-place finish in the 1000 to go with a 15th-place finish in the mile.
Greenfield 73, Southwick 22
Greenfield 75, Commerce 19 — Junior Crescens Iavorschi’s victory in the 55 meter dash helped the Green Wave roll past Southwick and Commerce in Friday night session action.
Iavorschi won the event with a time of 6.87 seconds, and gave Greenfield points in the 300 (sixth, 38.70) and long jump (eighth, 18-4½).
Junior Jake Cote wound up third in the shot put (32-3½), with teammate Izaak Vigil-Sagan close behind in fifth place (31-7½). Greenfield scored well in the other field events as well, with Theodor Popusoi finishing sixth in the high jump (5-4) and 12th in the long jump (16-8). Israel Gallardo was 12th in the high jump and Aaron Do took 13th.
Tyssen LaBombard and Alex Bacigalupo went seventh and eighth in the 1000, respectively, for the Wave, while LaBombard’s busy night also saw him take sixth in the 2-mile (12:10) and ninth in the mile (5:22). Dylan Badillo was 10th in the mile and Andy Bostrom was 12th, while Erick Badillo took 10th in the 2-mile.
Freshman Liviu Mihailicenco gave Greenfield a seventh-place finish in the 55 hurdles (9.90), and teammate Trevor Gibb took 11th in 10.61 seconds.
Athol 69, Commerce 23
Athol 70, Sci-Tech 22 — Senior Mason Barrieau scored a pair of runner-up finishes, helping the Red Raiders get back on the winning track with sweeps of Commerce and Sci-Tech.
Barrieau was the runner-up in the 55-meter hurdles (8.79) and added a second-place finish in the 300 (37.51). He capped his night by leaping to a sixth-place finish in the long jump (19-0).
Classmate Dennis St. Jean gave Athol a fourth-place performance in the 600 (1:34.04), with teammates Colby Soltysik (10th) and Anthony Oro (15th) also competing in the 600.
Athol’s Anthony Marcucci was the sixth-fastest finisher in the mile (5:06). Sophomore Ryan Young nabbed eighth in the 2-mile (12:20), while Soltysik was eighth in the high jump and teammate Parker Deleo was 10th. Colby Hume wound up 13th in the shot put for the Red Raiders, while Noah Aukstikalnis was 13th in the 2-mile and Zachary Fish was 14th in the 1000.