School Roundup: Walsh shatters school record to lead Big Blue over Marblehead

Whenever Swampscott and Marblehead get together for a game, a match or in this case a cross-country race on Monday in Swampscott, it always makes for good theater.And when you add in the fact that both teams came into the meet sporting 6-0 records with a league championship on the line, the rivalry became that much more intense.Led by senior Lindsay Walsh’s record-shattering run of 16:05 for the 3-mile course, the Big Blue used three top-five finishes to help eke out a 26-30 win over the Magicians to claim the NEC South title.”A couple of places the other way and it would have been very different for us,” Swampscott coach Dom Finelli said.Walsh’s time of 16:05 shattered her own course record by some 30 seconds. Fellow senior Amelia Antrim came home second at 17:05 and sophomore Niki Laskaris shaved 50 seconds off her personal best to come home fifth in 17:37.Those performances helped offset a very consistent day from the Magicians (6-1). Maura Tubridy’s third-place finish (17:31) helped lead five Marblehead runners in the top nine positions.Madeline Piela was fourth (17:32); Chloe Hesketh was sixth (17:50); Claire DePew, eighth (18:05); and Sarah Bitterman, ninth (18:07).”There were a lot of great races,” Marblehead coach Jennifer Embridge said. “It really did come right down to the end.”BOYS CROSS COUNTRYMarblehead 16, Swampscott 45At Swampscott, the Magicians (6-1) took the top four spots, led by James Wigglesworth (14:32); Henry Pratt (14:51); Will Herlihy (14:56); and Tucker Reece (14:57). Casey Collins was the top Swampscott runner, finishing fifth (14:58). Jake Conaty took eighth (15:21) and Shiloh Clarke, ninth (15:23). Both teams head to the Northeastern Conference Championship meet Saturday at Bradley Palmer State Park.FIELD HOCKEYSwampscott 0, Saugus 0At Phillips Park, the Big Blue could only muster a point out of this one, but it was enough to qualify the team for the state tournament. Senior captain Kelly Gillis saw plenty of action between the pipes in posting her ninth shutout. The other players celebrating senior day were Alex Wilson, Stasia Beaulieu and Kaitlyn Englehardt on offense and Dee Hayward and Olivia Cohen on defense.Beverly 2, Peabody 0At Peabody, the Tanners (10-2-4, 9-2-4 NEC) saw their lead in the Northeastern Conference disappear as the Panthers broke a scoreless tie five minutes into the second half and added an insurance goal with 4:00 left.Marblehead 5, Gloucester 0At Gloucester, the Magicians made easy work of the Fishermen, led by Blake Bernier and Shelby Rosenberg, who had two goals each, and Caroline McCarthy (goal, assist). Maika Strogoff also had a pair of assists.Medfield 2, Fenwick 1At Peabody, Medfield led 1-0 at the half, but the Crusaders came back to tie the game on a goal by Lauren McHugh (Kristen O’Connell assist) in the second half. Medfield delivered the game-winner with about six minutes left. Casey Landry was in net for Fenwick, which wraps up its regular season with a 12-5-1 record.Danvers 1, Salem 1At Salem, the Witches came up with the tying goal with about two minutes left. Danvers had taken a 1-0 lead on a Rebecca Leslie goal off a corner (Avery Pecci assist). The Falcons are 7-7-2, 5-7-2 NEC. Danvers still needs two points in its next two games to qualify for the state tournament.VOLLEYBALLPeabody 3, Salem 0At Salem, the Tanners (12-4) struggled to a 25-20 win in the first game before rolling to 25-16 and 25-9 wins in the next two. Ginny Fleming had four kills and nine service points to lead Peabody.Emily McGeaney added three aces and Jillian Rizzo had 11 service points.Lynnfield 3, Revere 1At Revere, the Pioneers (9-8) clinched a state tournament berth, but it wasn’t easy. After the teams split the first two games, Lynnfield had to eke out 25-21 and 27-25 wins to clinch the match.Tammy Vo had a monster performance for the Pioneers, dishing out 28 assists with five kills and one ace. Christina Moccia had 10 kills, four aces and nine digs while Kelsey Mancini had 10 kills