LYNNFIELD — The Pioneers have had some impressive teams over the decades in just about every sport but right at the top of the list is an outdoor track and field team that rose to the top in 2011.
A decade ago, despite bringing only 11 athletes to the 2011 Division 4 championship meet, the Pioneers defied the odds and captured the state title.
“We called them dragon slayers,” former Lynnfield girls track coach Nani Benson said. “They picked that name at the beginning of the season and even put it on the tee-shirts. We knew it was a very special team right away. We saw all the athletes we had in front of us and the coaches looked at each other and we knew we could do something with that group.”
Benson, a former runner herself who was a member of the Puerto Rican women’s national Olympic team in the 80’s and early 90s’s, had an athletic career full of highlights herself but she still remembers that Pioneers team vividly.
Having 11 athletes compete in the final meet of the season was less than ideal, especially after 15 members of the Lynnfield team had qualified to compete. But injuries and illnesses piled up and the Pioneers fielded as many bodies as they could.
Benson, along with boys coach Bill Wallace and head coach Mike Mischo crunched the numbers beforehand and realized the team still had a chance despite the odds being stacked against them.
The team included an array of great and versatile athletes, all of whom earned at least a point in the meet. Brittany Hunt who competed on the team with her twin sister Gretta remembers the odds being stacked against Lynnfield.
“I remember before that last meet coach Mischo gathered us together and told us we all needed to place where we were expected if not better,” Hunt, who ran in college at the University of New Hampshire said. “So for us to win and pull it off is something we didn’t expect. We had such a small amount of girls and we just went out there and did our best.”
Brittany was one of four runners who ran in arguably the biggest event of the meet, a 4×800 relay that the Pioneers needed to place in to bring home that state championship trophy.
“It really came down to the 4×800 and not only did we do well, we broke the school record,” Nani Benson said.
Lexi Bounfiglio, Angelica Kartsounis, Brittany Hunt and Abby Norwood got the job done with a time of 9:54.28, finishing second to clinch the title and setting a Lynnfield High record that still stands today.
“It was ironic because Abby, who was the anchor, actually lost her shoe,” Benson said. “She finished in second place without a shoe.”
“I just remember that group being so hard working and dedicated,” Brittany Hunt, now a teacher in Georgia, said. “We were all so determined at the time even if we didn’t know if we could do it. It was such a great experience.”
And that was just one piece of the puzzle.
Benson’s daughter Scout, who would go on to be a member of Puerto Rico national soccer team that lost to Team USA in a World Cup, placed second in the 100 meter hurdles and fourth in the 400 meter hurdles. Gretta Hunt and Justina Padovani also posted top-10 finishes, with Hunt placing fifth and Padovani eighth in the 400 hurdles. Benson said the hurdling events alone gave Lynnfield 30 to 35 points at the meet.
Meghan Goodwin also had a meet to remember, placing first in the 400 meter and third in the triple jump.
Brittany Hunt also posted impressive individual finishes; she finished fifth in the mile and fifth in the pole vault with Kartsounis right behind in seventh in the vault. Buonfiglio contributed a strong effort with a fourth place finish in the 800.
Hannah Adams (shot put), Nareh Sahakian (discus) and Heather Denisco (high jump) were unsung heroes of the day with Adams placing fifth, Sahakian placing eighth and Denisco placing sixth.
Ending the year on a day full of top finishes and personal and seasonal records (11 in all) was a perfect summary of a team that gave everything they could all season long. Every competitor placed and contributed points. And while a state championship trophy was the icing on the cake, it’s that dedication that stands out still to this day.
“That meet was in North Reading,” Benson said. “The school ride back was fantastic. It was one of those moments you never forgot. It’s the best team I think that Lynnfield has had in 20 years. Bill Wallace was a tremendous help and Mischo could pump runners up like you couldn’t even imagine. But the girls worked so hard. They did it all.”
