Track Mid-Season Report

Last year, the North Attleboro Boys Winter Track team had over 70 members. This year, the team only had 53. Size in a track team usually makes a difference and this year, it made a difference that benefitted the boys from Big Red. The 2016 graduating class saw All-State hurdler Gareth King, State Finalists Pat Johnson and John Thompson and many other varsity runners leave. The 2016 season also brought an end to North’s time in the Kelley-Rex division, as 2017 was their first season in the Davenport side of the Hockomock League. Captains Leo Charlebois, Nick rajotte, and Matt Reimels all went into the season with significant state and hockomock level experience, but several runners expected to compete in varsity meets were rookies to the sport. Mario Bresko and Skyler Poirier went into the season with skills from Spring Track and Cross Country in their respective areas. Pressure also went to returning runners like Liam Monahan, Jon Shutlz, Matt Tarantino, and James Elia. In their very first meet against Canton, the Rocketeers had to overcome challenges. As well as trying to overcome first-meet jitters, the team had to overcome Bresko, Tarantino, and Omar Jasseh all not competing. Despite not having a strong jump crew, the boys were able to leave Reggie Lewis center with a 86-14 victory over the Bulldogs, including first-place finishes from Poirier, Monahan, Rajotte, Shutlz, and Brett “burly boy” Cloutier . The next meet pitted North Attleboro against Sharon, their leading competitor in the Davenport division. A fiery speech during the week of practice from Coach Scott Holster helped the team deliver a fiery performance. But these efforts were just matched by the Eagles. In the most dramatic fashion possible, Sharon won the 4x200m relay by 0:00.04 seconds setting up a 4x400m race that would decide the meet, and ultimately, the Davenport division dual meet championship. The Dream Team 4x400 consisting of Elia, Cole Jarchow, Shutlz, and Reimels were able to finish first with a time of 3:43.75. On the day, the Rocketeers had 5 first-place finishes and 9 state-qualifying performances. Pretty good for a 53-man team. Upon returning from a week-long break from school and competing, the Rocketeers faces off against the Black Knights from Stoughton. Final score: 83-17 Big North. Shoutout to Mackey in the 1000. With the next meet came Milford, featuring some of the top individual runners in the Hock. Luckily enough for North Attleboro, they featured one of the top teams in the Hock. Despite a school-record-breaking race from the Milford 4x400m team, the Rocketeers took this one with the score totaling 71-29 with Personal Records being broken throughout the team. Next up for Big Red was Division III State Relays. Being 2 years removed from winning the same meet in 2015, the team entered with the thought that another trophy was coming home with them. After winning 1st in 3 relays, (Shuttle Hurdles, Long Jump, High Jump), 4 other relays were able to score points in a state meet. Again, pretty good for a “small team” All that stood in Big North’s path of becoming dual meet champs were the Warriors of Foxboro. With almost every member of the team competing the night before mid-terms, the boys in red won 79-21, capping off an undefeated dual meet season. At the end of the dual meet season, 21 members had earned a varsity letter, almost half the entire team. That fact alone shows you how well this group was able to perform at a high level. Despite being in the “weaker” division, this team was able to win State Relays and send over 15 kids to the Division III state championship meet. I’ll say it one more time; pretty good for a team of 53 guys.