Classical track sweeps past English

When Lynn English and Lynn Classical face off in just about any sport, it?s bound to be fun. And that it was at Manning Field on Monday, as the Classical boys and girls track teams edged out a win over English, 74-62 for the boys and 68-49 for the girls.Agnes Bangura took the 100- and 200-meter dashes for Classical, as they improved to 3-3. Jen Gaudet won the 400 and Anna Wargo placed first in the 800 for the Rams. Wargo also won the long jump. Lauren Gonzalez won the mile with a time of 6 minutes 16 seconds. Devyn Astuccio took the high hurdles for the Rams. In the field events, Isis Bryant won the shotput and Mary Joc took the high jump at 4 feet 9 inches.
?(English) was ahead for about half of the meet, but our team fought through the adversity and our leaders scored us some clutch points,” said Classical coach Scott Fiore. “I feel good about how our season?s gone. The girls have been terrific, both in practice and at the meets. We?re on a two-meet win streak, and I predicted about a month ago that we?d finish 5-3. We just need two more.”
The Bulldogs (0-7) kept the meet within reach, but in the end couldn?t hold on for the win. English performed very well in the field events, with Kylie Moorehouse winning the triple jump (she also won the 400 hurdles), Ose Ukhuedoba taking first in the discus, and Brianna Maynard winning the javelin. Elizabeth Rozon had a good day for the Bulldogs, finishing second in the 400 hurdles, 100 hurdles and the high jump. Marni McManus won the 2-mile race and Francesca Canas placed second. Nneka Lloba, Georgejet Kotee, Faith Agbonsalo and Maynard won the 4×100 relay.
?It was close until the very end,” said English coach Brenda Martin. “These meets against Classical are a lot of fun. All of the kids did great.”
On the boys? side, Classical?s (2-3) Andres Valdez won the 400 hurdles (1:05.2), Thomas Mackin placed first in the mile (5:04), Chandler Laguerre won the 100 (11.5 seconds), Gilley Karambas took the 2 miles (11:42) and Zeke Ebieshuwa won the 200 (24.0). Jakeel Brown won the javelin (124 feet), and the relay team of Ahanna Ugorgi, John Ngunana, Yunior Crispin and Julovens Closerville won the 4×400 with a time of 3:52.
?I told everyone that today it wasn?t about times or personal marks, but about winning their events,” said Classical coach Ryan Hathaway. “They fought for every point. We?ve got a great group, we?re progressing, and we?re on a three-meet win streak now.”
English (2-5) got wins from James Cabral in the 400 (54.1), Hugh Calice in the triple jump (41-10) and 100 hurdles (15.6), Daekwon Shepherd in the long jump (20-0), CJ Hernandez in the high jump (6-0), Jeremy Garcia in the shot put (38-9), Sam Adewale in the discus (111-0), and the 4×100 relay team comprised of Shepherd, Hernandez, Garcia and Calice.
?I?m very proud of the guys, they gave it their all,” said Bulldogs coach Oren Wright. “We fought hard; it was a friendly grudge match. But we?re still two wins better than last year, and our team has great camaraderie.”Katie Morrison may be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @KatieMo61.