Rise and shine. Sunday morning marked state relay day at the Reggie Lewis Center, and individuals from Marblehead sure put on a show.
The day was highlighted by the girls’ first-place win. Ava Machado, Sadie Halpern, Charlotte Roszell, and LeDaisha Williams won the 4x400m in a time of 4:12.22 to put Marblehead ahead of second-place Billerica overall, 36-35.
“LeDaisha, who already ran a 400m in the SMR, passed the Westwood runner in the final straight to secure a victory in the event and meet,” said coach Nolan Raimo.
The title was the first in more than two decades for Marblehead.
While in the 4x800m, Isaac Gross (2:04), Will Cruikshank (2:18), Will Cronin (2:18), and Xavier Grazado (2:19) “snuck just under the 9:01.74 mark with their 8:59.9 finish time,” as said by Raimo.
In the boys DMR (1,200-400-800-1,600), Marblehead finished second out of 25 teams for the second-fastest time in school history. Nata Assa led the way, according Raimo.
“Nate Assa has very quickly emerged as an elite talent across multiple distances in the last couple of weeks,” Raimo said. “His 1,200m split of 3:23 had his team in a solid second place… This time is the second-fastest in school history, only seven seconds off the school record set by a stacked 2014 team.”
In the high jump, Elise Burchfield, Philine Heuermann, and Paige Tredwell won the event in “impressive fashion,” as said by Raimo.
“These three put on a high jump clinic,” he said.
Running over to the girls 4×50 yard dash – and in a last second change – Ava Machado and Sadie Halpern joined Lidia Jasmine Tiedra and Gabby Hendy to finish fourth in a time of 25.78.
“When a meet comes down to a single point, it’s often about how you place in the events you do not win, and these four did a great job to score points in a volatile event,” Raimo said.
Machado, Halpern, LeDaisha Williams, and Kate Twomey won the SMR (200-200-400-800) in a blazing fast time of 4:22.95, which reached the provisional qualifier for New Balance Nationals (4:25).
“They absolutely ran away from the field, winning the event with a stunning six-second gap between them and second place,” Raimo said.