Marshfield has had a history of producing elite-level DMR squads over the years, including 2012 when the Rams nearly broke 10 minutes to capture the individual title at the New Balance Nationals.
This year’s quartet of Matt McCabe, Nathan Looney, Tucker McNamee and Graham Heinrich appears to be continuing the tradition.
Two weeks after a moderately disappointing performance at the Penn Relays Carnival, Marshfield rebounded in a big way on Thursday night at the 57th annual Glenn B. Loucks Games. The foursome of McCabe, Looney, McNamee and Heinrich earned gold on Day 1 of the three-day competition with a time of 10 minutes, 10.39 seconds, an effort that currently ranks the Rams in a tie for No. 14 in the country.
“We wanted to come in and win and not focus on time,” said Rams’ coach Dennis Sheppard. “We have finished second here several times over the last decade so it was nice to finally get over the hump. Bouncing back after the Penn Relays performance made it that much sweeter. I’m proud of how these guys came out and competed.”
Competed they did on the oval of White Plains High in New York. McCabe set the tone by giving the Rams the lead at the start with a 3:07.07 spilt for his 1,200m leg. Looney and McNamee followed with splits of 48.81 and 2:03.09 for their respective 400m and 800m leg. Trailing by just a slight margin over eventual second-place finisher and N.Y., entry Monroe-Woodbury (10:14.09) after the first three legs, Heinrich brought it home with a blazing 4:11.43 for the final 1,600m.
The race also featured another top MA school. Taking fifth overall with a time of 10:35.18 was Billerica. Comprising the squad (with their splits) were Sahil Gandhi (3:16.43, 1,200m), Devin Morrow (54.53, 400m), Shane Leslie (1:58.19, 800m) and Mason Niles (4:26.05, 1,600m).
In the girls’ DMR, Billerica also secured fifth overall with a state-leading 12:24.45. The foursome (with their splits) were Sabrina Gorski (3:50.01, 1,200m), Marlayna Carl (1:02.12, 400m), Lila Mackwell (2:21.50, 800m) and Madelynn Larosa (5:10.84, 1,600m).
On Friday, Westford Academy’s Abby Hennessy grabbed the bronze in the girls’ 800m with a PR of 2:09.14. Right behind her in fourth overall was Plymouth North’s Macey Shriner, who clocked an all-time best of 2:09.55. In a race that featured 40 runners under two minutes, Lowell’s Alex Rodgers was the top finisher from the Bay State, placing 31st with a time of 1:58.95. Old Rochester’s Nolan Rushnell was 40th at 1:59.95.
Tewksbury native and Bishop Guertin (NH) senior Matt Giardina was eighth in the 3,200m with an impressive 9:05.30. Amherst Pelham’s Sam Alfandari was third in the shot with a heave of 56 feet, 11 inches.
The competition finishes up on Saturday. Going into the final day, Billerica’s Nyah Joseph is leading the field in the pentathlon with 1,389 points after two events – the 100m HH (15.06) and the high jump (1.44 meters).
