Strong Performances at Middlesex League Meet by Warriors

The Middlesex League meet was held at the Reggie Lewis Center on Wednesday night. If the type of performances from the championship meet are any indicator, along with the addition of high numbers expected in the spring, the outdoor track and field season may be a very exciting one for the Wakefield Warriors. 

The night started off with a strong performance by James Bridges in the mile.  Bridges had a personal best time of 4:38.28 and placed a very strong second.  Last winter James ran a 5:14 at this point in the year and went on to have an outdoor best of 4:38.37. Now that he is already well ahead of his time from last year, it will be exciting to see what he is capable of at states and the upcoming spring season. 

Other excellent performances in the mile were by Alex Mitchell with a big PR of 5:02 and another PR by Andrew Russo at 5:15.

The mile was followed up by another school record setting performance by Stephen Roberton in the 1000 meters. Robertson won with a time of 2:34.56 to surpass Shawn Wallace's record of 2:34.83 from the 1999 New England Championships.  Robertson has also broken the mile and two mile records set in the 70s. Next up for Robertson is the New Balance Grand Prix Games that will be held at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston on February 4th. The meet headlines Olympic and World Championship medalists and American record holders. The meet features a junior mile in which 12 of the best runners on the East Coast will participate. The meet will be shown on ESPN 2, Sunday, Feb. 5th from 2-4, and there is a possibility the junior mile will get some airtime. 

Marc Bucchieri dropped two whole seconds in the 1000 meters with his 6th place finish in 2:44.89. This sets him up nicely for this weekends Coaces Invitational.  Chris Haddad ran his first 1000 meter race of the season with his time of 2:55 placing 14th.

Jonathan Miksis continued to prove he is one of he best 600 meter runners in he league with a 3rd place finish 1:27.56. Miksis looks to grab a PR on Sunday at the Coaches Elite meet.  Ryan Carey was the other Wakefield entry in the 600 meters with a PR of 1:35.75.

Brett Tassinari dropped a massive season best of 36.73, beating his toughest competition over the past few years to take first place. His time was a second faster than his previous season best and a career PR. Tassinari will see if he can continue to drop his times at the Coaches Invitational this weekend. 

Patrick Scheeler ran the 300 meters with a time of 41.84 and Dylan Sellers ran a 45.69 despite being tripped before the finish line.

In the 55 meter dash, Shane Nelson ran a 7.22 and Armin Palic ran a 7.5.  In the 55 meter hurdles, Mitch Severt ran a 9.3 and Sean Robbins ran 10.58 seconds.

Sophomore Aaron Lucci ran away from the field in his first 2 mile of the season with a Mass. #7 Sophomore time of 10:11.  Lucci will run the mile this weekend at the Coaches Invitational. 

Jared Gellar may have had one of the most impressive performances of the day with his 10:30.  Jared came from a 13:47 2 mile time as a Freshman to missing state qualifying time by a fraction of a second.  Jared will make one last attempt at states next weekend against Stoneham. 

Michael Sheehan ran a big PR of 11:17 as Wakefield's third entry in the 2 mile. 

In the shot put, Jesse Cardoza had a 39'6" toss, Marc Smith threw 34'1", and Joseph Capobianco threw 33'9.5".