LYNN — Five high schools. Nearly 600 athletes. One event.
The Lynn All-City Track and Field Championships were held Tuesday at Manning Field, featuring student-athletes from Lynn Classical, Lynn English, Lynn Tech, St. Mary’s, and KIPP Academy.
Tech’s girls completed a stellar regular season – one of the best in program history – and the trend of success continued Tuesday. The Lady Tigers placed first with 227 points, followed by St. Mary’s (141), English (74), KIPP (50.5), and Classical (25.5).
Tech Coach James Runner said the meet was “very important.
“When we started the season, I told the girls we needed to go four for four in terms of the conference, the dual-meets, the state vocational, and then the city meet. We were very lucky to get the conference and the dual-meet. We lost the vocational meet to Essex-Tech, which was a tough meet, but today is very important,” he said. “This is our closeout for our seniors. Jireilis De Jesus has been one of the top hurdlers in the city. Brianna Anderson has been a great runner for us in the mile. Ferlande Jean Jacques has been one of the fastest girls in the state. This is big for us and we are taking it very seriously this year.”
The Tech boys also took home first place, racking up 142 points. St. Mary’s finished second with 126, followed by KIPP (125), Classical (90), and English (33).
“I love every part of this,” said John Hogan, Tech’s boys coach.
De Jesus and Kevin Smart brought home the John Hogan Most Valuable Player awards. Smart claimed first in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:02.39, while De Jesus beat out teammate Ashanti Batista in the 100m hurdles with a time of 18.73.
Runner said “legacy” was important to him and the team.
“The legacy of our track program is important to John Hogan and myself,” he said. “We work with these runners from cross country through indoor track and then outdoor track – the legacy of our program is important to us.”
In the girls’ high jump, English’s Danivel Diroche took home first place with a leap of 4-08. Precious Jonathan, also of English, set a personal record with a jump of 4-04, which was tied for second place with Tech’s Kaylee Deschamps.
“‘Have fun’ is my message to the seniors. I have some great seniors that I’m going to miss a lot,” said English Coach Brenda Martin. “Danivel Diroche does the high jump, javelin, both relays, 400 hurdles – whatever I ask her to do, she’ll do. Jade Quero is probably one of the fastest girls on our team. They’re great seniors and they stuck it out and stayed committed each year.”
Tech’s Isabella Cortez took home the Most Outstanding Field Athlete award after her performance in the discus, throwing 96-10 to claim first place. Teammate Zahara Belizaire finished second with a throw of 78-03, while KIPP’s Gbemi Oladunjoye (70-01) took third.
KIPP’s Joseph Beato – Most Outstanding Field Athlete in the boys division – threw the discus 151-06, which was good for first place.
Classical Coach Eric Moreno said he was looking forward to watching Anthony Rodriguez.
“He broke the school record in the 100m and 200m race and has already qualified for states,” Moreno said. “He’s a GBL (Greater Boston League) All-Star.”
Rodriguez (11.48) performed well, but was narrowly defeated in the 100m by St. Mary’s Devin Duval (11.45).
However, Rodrigeuz did win the 200m with a time of 23.67, which beat St. Mary’s duo of Hakeem Akande (24.25) and Mehdi Khemmich (PR 24.27).
The fastest girl in Lynn also hailed from St. Mary’s, as Lea Deronja defeated Tech’s Ferlande Jean Jacques. Deronja ran the 100m in 13.392, while Jacques crossed the line at 13.396.
Classical’s Gianni Elmudesi won the boys’ mile (5:03.19), while St. Mary’s Nina Lopes won the girls’ mile (6:01.70).
On top of the jumps, sprints, and throws, St. Mary’s Coach Tristan Smith was proud of the amount of money raised to support all five schools.
“We have more sponsors this year than ever before. We raised a lot of money for our new non-profit (All Lynn Track and Field) and all of that money is going to support the kids and the sports of cross country and track and field. We’re going to continue our scholarships and hopefully, we’ll be able to do some grants for the teams to be able to go to the invitational meets and the schools won’t have to pay those invitational fees,” Smith said. “Hopefully, we can also use the money to upgrade some of the equipment that we share here at Manning Field. Over time, especially with five schools sharing it, it wears down. Rich Avery, who runs Manning Field, has been extremely helpful in scheduling and getting this ready for us.”
Smith and Hogan have helped organize the event since 2019.
“Every kid works out down here. They know each other and know each other’s times,” Hogan said. “It’s one big track and field community.”
