The Sports Watch for May 9 - 14

It's Sunday, and you know what that means. It's time for the Sports Watch, the fastest three minutes in Weston Sports coming your way right now:

Well, a lot of good things happened on the diamond for the Weston baseball team, but the miscues outweighed the fortunes in a 7-5 loss to visiting Boston Latin in Dual County League action last week.

“A frustrating loss,” Weston head coach Jon Beverly said, after his squad dropped its second straight home game and saw its record dip to 6-6. “For every positive thing we did on the field, we seemed to follow it up with a very bad play.”

The positives included the effort of senior right fielder Nick Neu, who went 2-fo-4 with 3 runs scored, and continued to be a sparkplug on defense.

“[He] was outstanding in the outfield," Beverly said, "making many great plays."

Weston also got solid hitting from Vincent Nardone, who went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles; Noah Tocchi, who drove in two runs; and David Miller, who had an RBI double in the third inning.

But the good news all comes with a caveat.

“At this point in the year, we can’t be making the mistakes we have been making,” Beverly said. “Our preparation is not where it needs to be right now. We’ll fix it and look to improve.”

Weston also suffered an 11-9 loss to Arlington. The Wildcats led, 8-3, after two innings, but couldn’t hold the lead. The Spy Ponders rallied with one run in the third, two in the fourth, and three in the fifth to take a 9-8 advantage. They added two more runs in the sixth for good measure.

The ’Cats got an RBI single by James Goulart in the sixth, but that finished the scoring.

“Very tough loss,” Beverly said.

Neu was again a bright spot at the plate, going 2-fo-4 with a double, 2 RBIs, and 2 runs scored.  Also contributing was Matt O’Connor, who went 2-for-2 with 2 runs scored, and Gage Hartman, who had two hits in four tries, including a double. 

We stay on the diamond for softball, and in one of the more well-played games of the season, Weston High lost a hard-fought battle to host Arlington, 3-1, in Dual County League Small Division action.

Each team made only one error, but Arlington had just a bit more offense, scoring a run each in the second, fourth, and sixth innings.

As for the Wildcats, it was an aggravating afternoon at the plate in which they had numerous chances to score, but fell short, as their record dipped to 3-6 overall and 1-3 in division play.

“[We] had the bases loaded with no outs in the top of the first and the top of the seventh but were unable to score,” Weston head coach Kelly Harrington said. “We had runners in scoring position in five out of the seven innings.”

The 'Cats got their run in top of the fourth when sophomore star Ariana Vasquez blasted a deep home run out of the park to tie the game at 1-1 at the time. Vasquez finished the day 2-for-2 with two intentional walks.

Vasquez also pitched a dandy of a ballgame, allowing the Spy Ponders only two hits, while striking out six and walking four. 

“Ariana and sophomore catcher Emma Walsh did a great job keeping the Arlington batters off balance,” Harrington said.

Weston also got offensive support from junior Tanner Skenderian, who went 2-for-4,  and senior Sarah Ober, freshman Talia Cramer, junior Kristen Welby, and sophomore Sarah Goldman, who had one hit apiece.

To the turf we go, where the Weston girls’ lacrosse team’s increased up-tempo play has resulted in a lot of goals and a solid 8-3 record so far this season. After falling to Concord-Carlisle, the Wildcats bounced back with a convincing 20-10 win over Arlington in recent Dual County League Small Division action. Julia Meehan scored a whopping six goals, while Emma Dagres and Bianca Brueckner each had hat tricks. Lindsay McCabe and Hannah Dinardo also contributed with two goals apiece, while Sarah Peters added one among the barrage.

“[We] came out ready to play,” Peters said. 

Dana White allowed the ‘Cats to gain the advantage with four draw controls as Weston dominated the first half and the start of the second stanza, before the game was stopped because of a lightning storm. When play resumed a half hour later, Weston stayed strong, as the Wildcats surrendered only one goal after the delay.

In the following game against Algonquin, Brueckner and Dagres each had a hat trick, Meehan tallied twice, and Peters also scored, but the ‘Cats fell a goal short, 10-9.

Dagres and Meehan also contributed with two assists each. Dinardo, Peters, and Brueckner, meanwhile, all forced multiple caused turnovers, allowing Weston to gain possession.

“The attack worked the ball around the 12 [yard-line] and utilized the plays,” Peters said.

The Wildcats’ defense was also equal to the task. At the start of the game, Algonquin surprised Weston with the many picks they set, but the ‘Cats put a stop to that.

“We quickly adjusted and learned to deal with these picks and put a stop to the scoring,” Peters said. “The defense was smart with adjusting with the picks and stopping the Algonquin cutters. All in all, the team played a tough yet good game.” 

Now, folks, it’s time to roll out the highlight reel for the 14th Annual Weston Twilight track meet. The meet attracts a lot of the top talent from around the state, and more than 1,000 runners were registered to compete in this extravaganza.

Rain came early and delayed the meet for about an hour, but that didn’t stop Weston from eventually winning three individual medals and a group medal. The Wildcats won individual medals in the girls’ 200 meter and two-mile runs and the boys’ long jump, and took the silver medal in the boys’ 4 x 400 relay.

With the top six place finishers in all events earning medals, junior Julia Kee was the highest medal finisher for the Weston girls, qualifying for the 200 meter finals in a personal best time of 27.03 and finishing fifth in the final, crossing at 27.40.

Kee was also the anchor on the fifth place 4 x 100 meter team with seniors Emelia Barron and Haley Knapp and sophomore Catherine Cebulla. The quartet finished in 54.10 seconds. Knapp also ran the 400 meter hurdles in a personal best time of 1:15.15, finishing in 13th place, while Cebulla leaped 30 feet, 9 inches in the triple jump, finishing 20th overall. 

Weston’s other medals winner included junior Charlotte Walmsley and sophomore Craig Shytle. Walmsley finished sixth in the two-mile with personal best time of 11.26.66, while Shytle finished sixth in the long jump with a season-best leap of 20 feet, 3 inches.

Juniors Spencer Shea and Kento Kawai also had season best scores in the long jump. Shea finished in seventh place with a leap of 20 feet, 2 inches. Kawai checked in with a jump of 18 feet, 6 inches, which was good for 16th place.

Junior Lily Teplow was the top scoring Weston triple jumper with a leap off 30 feet, 11.75 inches. Following Teplow were freshman Fini Bichara and sophomore Bailey Bickford with jumps of 30 feet, 3 inches, a personal best for the latter.

Bichara also fared well in the high jump with a leap of 4 feet, 5 inches, good for 12th place overall.

Freshman Zoe Snow topped the Weston charts in the high Jump, finishing seventh with a personal best leap of 4 feet, 8 inches.

Freshman Anna Neufeld threw the discus a personal best 61 feet, 11 inches, a good toss especially in the rainy conditions, which took the 32nd slot overall.

Sophomore Abigail Pohl took seventh place in the mile with a time of 5:16.2.

Recovering from injury, junior Olivia Brackett cruised to a win in the unseeded heat of the mile, crossing at 5:24.64.

The girls’ 4 x 800 meter relay team strung together a strong seventh place finish to set the bar for the season with a time of 10:43.04. Junior Alexandra Rigobon (2:36.5) led off and was followed by sophomores Edom Wesslenyeleh (2:34.5), Lina Makino (2:41.7), and Laura Beaudry (2:50.1).

For the boys, the 4 x 400 meter relay team finished second, winning the silver medal,  in a time of 3:32.87, more than 11 seconds faster than its previous season-best time of 3:44.30. Senior Nicky Packs (54.5) led off, followed by Juniors Tim Grant (53.9) and Kyle Kachadurian (51.8), the latter a last minute substitute, and sophomore Geoffrey Pendergast (52.4).

In his first 400 meter competition, Kachadurian, who usually competes in the 100 and 200 meters and the jumps, ran an astonishing time of 51.8, which would have placed him fifth in the individual 400 meter run. Kachadurian also finished 13th in the 100M with a time of 11.90.

Pendergast also competed in the seeded heat of the 800 meter, where Joel Hubbard of Marshfield posted the 2nd fastest time of the season in the state with a time of 1:55.36. Pendergast went along for the ride for 650 meters, when he launched himself from last place on the final curve in the crowded field to pass five runners and finish 12th in a personal best time of 2:01.01.

Grant, meanwhile, also finished ninth in the triple Jump with a leap of more thanr 40 feet for the first time in his career. Grant jumped 40 feet, 1 ½ inches. Following Grant were fellow juniors Michael Gannon, who finished in 18th place with a personal best leap of 36 feet, 6 inches, and Sarpong Adu-Gyamfi, who finished 20th at 36 feet, ½ inch.  

During a thrilling heat of the two-mile run in good distance running weather, sophomore Matt Herzig (10:06.94, 16h place) and junior David Freeman (10:15.12, 19th place)  ran personal-bests. Not to be outdone was sophomore Adam Dvorak, who ran a personal best in the mile with a time of 5:05.17 and finished 50th overall.

Juniors Sundaram Mishra (1:05.93, 13th) and Kevin Mathers (17 1:08.84, 17th) had solid outings in the 400 meter hurdles.  

Rounding out the troops for Weston were senior Amos Pownall, who finished 30th in the 100 meter in a time of 12.49 and 27th in the javelin throw with a toss of 102 feet, 8 inches, and sophomores Daniel Lang and Alexis Mundo, who finished 28th and 30th in the javelin with heaves of 102 feet, 4 inches and 88 feet, 3 inches, respectively.

Hamilton-Wenham senior and Dartmouth-bound Alison Lanois won the two-mile in a remarkable time of 10:52.06, beating out Lincoln Sudbury senior and Princeton-bound Andrea Keklak, who finished in 11:09.23.

Lincoln-Sudbury’s Marika Crowe, meanwhile, won the mile in 5:07.78.