Updated Feb. 10
The Vineyarder boys won the 2020 Cape & Islands (C&I) indoor track championship, and the girls squad took second place in the C&I, last Saturday at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. Both teams were competing for the first time in the C&I this year.
While the Vineyarders took three first-place finishes and set a host of personal records on Saturday, the most stunning statistic was that 33 of Coach Joe Schroeder’s 53-member team put up points for Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS), according to our analysis.
MVRHS cruised to a 22-point win over runner-up Falmouth. Senior Dash Christy won the 55m hurdles. Christy led 18 Vineyarders on the boys squad who scored points.
Adrienne Christy won the mile, and Annabelle Biggs took the long jump by a wide 8.5-inch margin; they were two of the 15 girls who had Vineyarder points. The girls finished second to perennial powerhouse Nauset by a 105-93.5 count.
The key to both teams’ strong finishes was the overwhelming number of top-quality finishes by a combination of vets and underclassmen. “We try to base our training on that,” 32-year Coach Schroeder said this week. “Annabelle had a good day; Daniel Rivard and Braden Sayles were in shadows most of the season, but they stepped up on the big stage last week,” Schroeder said.
Peaking at the right time is important in all sports, and Schroeder knows how to do that. “Braden Sayles had two personal bests; Mickey Menton [fifth in the 55-meter dash] and Jonathan Norton [second in the 1000m] also had personal bests. Paige Pogue, who’s been strong all season, qualified for the state championships with a personal best in the shot put,” he said.
“We coach to help the kids peak at the right time. This is only our sixth year with an indoor team. Don Brown and Mike Lavers did a great job working with the kids. Given our practice environment, it’s quite an achievement,” Schroeder said.
Both the youngsters and the vets showed up on Saturday. Dash Christy took second in the 55m dash; JoJo Bonneau was second in the 55-meter hurdles, and Daniel Rivard finished sixth.
Emerging MVRHS stars Nick Pecararo was fourth in the 55-meter dash, and third in the 300-meter run. All-everything miler Peter Burke did not run on Saturday, but Zach Utz and Isaac Richards were second and third in the mile. Borja Tolay and Kieran Karabees finished third and fifth in the two-mile race. Daniel da Silva placed fourth in the 600-meter race, and Vito Aiello placed sixth in the 1,000-meter race.
Sayles, new to track, and Micah Vought placed third and fourth respectively in the shot put. Sayles also finished fifth in the long jump, and Daniel Rivard finished second in the high jump.
Senior captain Catherine Cherry was second in the mile, and second in the two-mile race.
As noted, sophomore Anabelle Biggs set a personal record in the long jump, soaring 8.5 inches beyond her nearest competitor, and Adrienne Christy placed third in the long jump. Biggs was also third in the 300-meter race, and fourth in the 55-meter dash, setting a personal record. Eloise Christy and Yayla DeChiara took third and fourth in the 600-meter race, and Sydney Brown ran to third place in the 1,000-meter. The Vineyard’s 4×400 relay team finished second, while Charlotte Packer, who continues to move up, was fourth in the shot put.
As crunch time nears, Schroeder, noting that more Vineyarder girls have already qualified for states than in recent years, will take several team members to the Last Chance to qualify for Division 5 championships on Feb. 16 at Reggie Lewis.
Updated to correct Annabelle Biggs fourth place finish in the 55-meter. — Ed.
