Roundup: Rocha, Peabody excel at Bay State Invitational

Peabody High runner Catarina Rocha won the girls 5K race at the Bay State Invitational at Northfield on Saturday, and the Tanners finished first among Division 1 girls teams.”The kids really responded well,” Tanners coach Joe Rocha said. “It’s our second major win in an invitational in the state of Massachusetts. It’s a great accomplishment. The kids should be happy.”Last month, the Tanners won the Frank Kelley Invitational on Sept. 29.On Saturday, Rocha won her race in 18:48, the sixth-fastest girls time ever on the course.”It was very challenging,” Coach Rocha said. “The first mile was all uphill. You had to really pace yourself. The second mile was downhill. Your quads take a lot of pounding. The last 1,000 meters were very challenging. You had to be very patient and run smart.”The Tanners finished with 88 points, ahead of second-place Lexington (105 points).Also placing for Peabody were: Lauren Barrett, fifth overall, 20:30; Sam Allen, 20:58, seventh; Antonia Pagliuca, 34th, 22:03; Cindy May, 49th, 22:32; and Mary Leach, 59th, 23:12.BOYS TRACKSt. John’s Prep finished seventh among Division 1 teams at the Bay State Invitational, with Jim Loehner of Beverly as the first Eagle runner to finish. He placed 24th.The Peabody boys finished ninth overall, led by Drew Fossa (11th, 17:12); Ben Braz (25th, 17:41); James Christopher (56th, 18:16) and Alex Marcus (63rd, 18:26).BOYS SOCCERSt. John’s 1, Silver Lake 1At Danvers, Nate Schmidt scored his eighth goal of the season for the Eagles (13-1-2) off a Lev Kazalyan assist. Matt Brady also played an “excellent game,” coach Dave Crowell said.Marblehead 0, Beverly 0At Beverly, Justin Carnavale made several saves for the Panthers (8-4-3).GIRLS SOCCERGloucester 4, Swampscott 1At Gordon College, Elle Weirbicky scored twice for the Fishermen (7-5-2), who also got single goals from Tess Benson and Lexi Psaldias. Liz McCormick made nine saves for Gloucester, which led 1-0 at halftime.Rich Tenorio can be reached at [email protected].