Peabody High’s Alex Jackson is used to bringing medals home from state track meets … but he loves nothing more than seeing his teammates on the Tanner throws team climb the podium as well.
Jackson, a junior, claimed two more state titles at the Meet of Champions held Thursday and Saturday at Fitchburg State. With a personal best toss of 61 feet 5 inches, Jackson cruised to the gold medal in the shot put (clearing 60 feet on all three throws) and also won the state title in the discus (an event in which he fouled and did not place last year) with a heave of 173 feet 6 inches.
“It was a dominant performance at the highest level of state competition,” said Peabody throws coach Jay Smith. “In the discus, he was light out from warmups. There were six kids that had thrown over 170 … it was one of the strongest fields I’ve ever seen.”
Another of Smith’s star pupils, Alessandra Forgione, nearly matched Jackson in the javelin. She took home silver with a second place throw of 132-07, being passed on the final toss. Forgione also qualified in the discus (19th, 99-04).
“Alessandra was brilliant,” Smith said. “The discus was her stronger event during the season, but she had a big breakthrough in the jav this week.”
To make the highly selective Meet of Champions, athletes must either win their event at one of the six MIAA state meets or have one of the top 24 (or fewer in some events) marks across the entire state.
Others that placed from Peabody were Evan Bedard, who was 7th in the triple jump (43-7) and 11th in the long jump (21-4 1/4); Brian Stevens (15th in the low hurdles, 57.63) and freshman Riley Michaud (22nd, triple jump, 40-9 1/4).
St. John’s Prep continued its recent dominance in the pentathlon, with Aithan Bezanson winning the state with 3,519 points and Lincoln Massaro placing third with 3,312. Bezanson was first in the hurdles and shot put among pentathletes, second in the 1500 and long jump, and third in the high jump.
In traditional competition, the Eagles’ first-time 4×100 relay of Ahmir Hykel, Dayvian Sullivan, Quinn Hubbard, Kevin Vaughan was fifth in 42.36 for the second-fastest time in school history. Daniel Padley was 14th in the 800 (1:58), Noah Kabel 17th in the low hurdles (57.75), Kye McClory 20th in the javelin (147-06) and Anthony Ragusa seventh in the shot put (50-11).
The throws were also strong for Marblehead, which saw Rachael Albert place fifth in the discus (113-11). Mari O’Connell placed 11th in the 2-mile (11:03) and also ran the mile (5:19, 25th) while Sadie Halpern ran the 400 (61.1, 26th).
For the Magician boys, Thomas Carlson ran the prelims of both the 100 and 200 and Isaac Gross placed 19th in the 2-mile (9:25).
Ipswich’s school record holder Kameya Perron made the podium in the pole vault, finishing sixth by clearing 10 feet 6 inches. Alana Novello was also 21st in the low hurdles (67.54).
Hamilton-Wenham star Georgia Wilson qualified in three events and made the podium in the triple jump, coming in sixth at 36-8 1/2. She also ran the 100 (14th, 12.64) and 200 (21st, 26.16), and freshman Grace Rich competed in the mile (27th, 5:21).
Lauren Boughner was a two-event qualifier for Masconomet, placing ninth in the long jump (17-6 3/4) and 14th in the triple jump (35 3/4). Mara Siewko had a long jump of 16-9 for 17th pace, and Sophia Doumais (discus, 98-11) and Amanda Schneider (400, 59.64) were 20th in their respective events. Masco’s 4×800 relay placed 23rd in 10:09.56.
Danvers saw Sean Moore come in 11th in the mile in 4:17 while William Conklin ran both the mile (4:22, 17th) and 2-mile (21st, 9:34).
For Beverly, Harry Silva was 14th in the long jump (21-2 1/2) and Ray Kwiatek was 16th in the 400 (50.70).
Essex Tech’s versatile sprinter Nora Kisiel also qualified in four different events, competing in three of them. Her best was a ninth place in the 400 with a blistering time of 58.02 while she ran 26.09 in the 200 and helped the Hawk 4×400 run 4:11.78.