Track: Peabody, Danvers rule NEC track championships

The best track and field athletes the Northeastern Conference has to offer were on display Saturday at Manning Field in Lynn at the NEC Open.Click here for a photo gallery.In the boys competition, Peabody was simply too strong and used the depth of its lineup to easily win over second-place Gloucester with Swampscott placing third. The girls race belonged to Danvers as the Falcons only won two events but used the rest of their roster to take the minor placings and 104 points for a 16-point win over Beverly. Peabody finished third.The Peabody boys spent much of the day collecting first place finishes, taking seven of them in all, including a sweep of all three relays on the day. Jamal Abu-Hijleh was a double winner for Peabody, taking the long jump (20-11 1/4) and 200 (22.1).Peabody also got event wins from Zach Grube in the high hurdles (15.5) and T.J. D’Amato in the 2-mile (10:04.7). The Tanners also took the 4×100 (43.9), 400 (3:33.6) and 800 (8:38.2) relays. The final two relays were won by less than a second over Gloucester.Lynn English posted a solid fifth place finish in the boys competition, finishing with 46 points.Camy Ducasse won the 400 (51.2) and Richard Kimber took the 400 hurdles (57.2) to lead the Bulldogs. Derek Stevens added a second in the shot put (44-7) while Melvin Tavares was second in the 200 (22.3). Jesse Birotte was third in the 800 (2:04.0).Classical’s Dammy Dada was second in the triple jump (41-9 3/4) for the Rams’ lone finish in the top three.Other boys winners were as follows: High jump – Jake Connors, Winthrop (6-3); Triple jump – Olisa Obiefuna, Saugus (43-11 1/2); Shot put – Gus Margiotta, Gloucester (53-8 1/2); Discus – George Kallas, Beverly (151-11); 100 – George Louis, Beverly (10.9); 800 – Kyle Hurd, Gloucester (1:58.5); Mile – Andrew Ryan, Gloucester (4:28.2) and Javelin – Nick Moll, Swampscott (163-2).In the girls competition, Danvers’ wins came from Marlene Christenson in the shot put (33-7 1/2) and Amanda Calderone in the high hurdles (16.1). The Falcons also added six second place finishes to help pull away from the competition.Classical’s Hullerie McGuffie won the 400 (57.4) to give the Rams their lone first place finish as they finished just ahead of rival Lynn English in the team competition.The other girls winners were Peabody’s Amanda Nielsen in the high jump (5-0); Long jump – Lauren Atkins, Saugus (16-11 1/4); Triple jump – Jasmine Bryant, Salem (34-4 1/2); Discus – Kate Mahoney, Beverly (103-11); 400 hurdles – Sarah Bittermann, Marblehead (1:06.2); 100 – Atkins (12.5); 200 – Cayla Bucci, Peabody (26.8); 800 – Wendi Marciano, Beverly (2:25.3); Mile – Monica Adler, Beverly (5:00.0); 2-mile – Millie Chapman, Beverly (11:01.8); Javelin – Clare Pleuler, Gloucester (95-11).CATHOLIC CENTRAL LEAGUEIt was a stellar day for the Fenwick boys and girls on home turf at Donaldson Field in Peabody. The girls easily bested the competition by 37.5 points to win their title while the boys came home a strong second to Cardinal Spellman.Tina Moran was a double winner for the Fenwick girls, taking the shot put (33-8) and leading a sweep of the discus (106-9). Faye Haley also won two events, claiming the javelin (109-6) and 800 (2:24.8).Brittany Dolan won the 100 hurdles (16.4) while the Crusaders took both the 4×100 and 800 relays. St. Mary’s finished with 21 points as a team, led by Brianna Anderson’s win in the 100 (13.0).The Fenwick boys were led by wins from Tom Banks in the 400 (52.5) and Bill Harrington in the 2-mile (10:10.3). The Crusaders also grabbed the 4×400 and 4×800 relays.St. Mary’s got a second place finish from Ralph Bertrand in the 200 (23.9) and a sixth by Ian Grocki in the javelin.CATHOLIC CONFERENCESt. John’s Prep rolled to another league meet title, easily besting Catholic Memorial on home soil.The Eagles got wins from Taewook Ha in the 110 hurdles (16.23); John Flanagan, mile (4:31.56); Jared Kadich, 400 (49.9); Mike Galasso, 400 hurdles (58.36) and Chris Oesterlin, 800 (1:5