LYNNFIELD — There was no better way to celebrate America’s birthday than with the Pillings Pond Foundation July 4th 5K road race Friday morning.
Foundation President and founder Antonio Sordillo said the foundation is “ecstatic to have the reins handed off to us from the Lynnfield Athletic Association.
“The handoff was late in May, which didn’t give us much time to plan for the race, so we really learned by fire, but next year, we intend to grow it and make it even better,” Sordillo said.
The race attracted 335 runners, just short of last year’s record of 349.
While the vast majority of runners call Lynnfield home, runners from age 6 to 77 – from as far away as Florida, Washington D.C., and New Jersey – participated in the race, which marked its 59th year.
Former Lynnfield High cross country and track standout Angelo DeLuca, 20, a rising junior on the cross country and track teams at Plymouth State University, won the overall male title and male 20-29 age group division in 17:17. He led from start to finish, easily outdistancing runner-up Brian McCarthy of Hanson (18:11).
2025 Lynnfield High graduate and Methodist University tennis commit Shea McCarthy, a former teammate of Deluca’s, finished third in 18:36.
He was the top Lynnfield High School finisher and also first in the male 15-19 age group division.
DeLuca finished second overall in 2024. He said his pre-race strategy this year was an early arrival.
“Last year, I started back in the pack, so this year, I made sure to get here early so I could start out in front,” he said. “I’m pretty happy. My goal today was to have fun on the 4th of July, but I still wanted to maintain competitiveness, so I took it a little seriously and made sure I got a good night’s rest. I love the race because I use it as part of my summer training for the fall season. Today, with this weather, it was absolutely perfect.”
Shea McCarthy, who helped lead the Pioneers’ boys tennis team to the state finals for a third consecutive year, said this was his “first run in months and I was very happy with my time. I’ve been focusing on tennis and was hoping for a sub-20 time, so knowing I beat it by more than a minute more than I had hoped was great.”
Rounding out the top-10 male finishers were Michael Welshons of Peabody (4th, 19:45), Andrew Moriarty of Danvers (5th, 19:14), Sean Walsh of Middleton (6th, 19:46), Garrett McNeill of Lynnfield (7th, 20:02), Michael Mansfield of Saugus (8th, 20:04), Lynnfield patrolman and resident Scott Fitzemeyer (9th, 20:16), and Anthony Metrano of Peabody (10th, 20:19). Lynnfield’s David Picariello (11th, 20:20), Chris Hancock of Saugus (16th, 20:49), Lynnfield High rising junior Ritvik Majahan (19th, 21:26), and Christopher McCarthy of Lynnfield (20th, 21:27) also placed in the top 20.
In the women’s race, Jessica Squires of Washington, D.C. finished 14th overall and took top overall honors and in the female 20-29 division (20:47). Lynnfield’s best finish in the overall female division was turned in by Kristen Dorsky, who finished 27th in 22:27.
Age group winners from Lynnfield included Elle Ferguson, female 10-and-under (25:59); Jack Cohen, male 10-and-under (25:09); Kiley Pagliuca, female 11-14 (26:14); Luca Depalma, male 11-14 (24:20); Day Blake, nonbin male 20-29 (23:50); DeLuca, male 15-19; Allison Milford, female 30-39 (24:32), Dorsky, female 40-49 (22:27); Joan Smith, female 60-69 (31:32); and Thomas Ackerman, male 70-99 (25:11).
Other division winners included Fiona Stewart, Melrose, female 15-19 (22:55); Welshons, Peabody, male 30-39 (18:46); Brian McCarthy, male 40-49 (18:12); Hancock, male 50-59; Holly Sullivan, Salem, female 50-59 (24:48); William Squires, Reading, male 60-69 (24:27); and Donna Cooper, unattached, female 70-99 (46:29).
A 501(C)(3) organization, the Pillings Pond Foundation is focused on both immediate and long-term initiatives to benefit the pond and community. To donate, checks should be mailed to: Pillings Pond Foundation, 30 Maywood Rd, Lynnfield, MA 01940.
Sordillo said race proceeds will go a long way toward Pillings Pond improvements.
“We successfully were able to get more and larger sponsors this year compared to previous years,” he said. “Our hope is that this road race will give us increased visibility as advocates for Pillings Pond and provide us with the financial resources through this fundraiser each year to help improve the water quality and public enjoyment of this great treasure we have in our town that is being underutilized at this time.”
Event sponsors included John Wyman Septic Systems, Wellpoint, Everett Banck, Northern Bank, Littlefield Real Estate (Danielle Ventre, Debbie Miller), Reading Co-Operative Bank, SalemFive, Julie Tsakirgis and RE/MAX Property Shoppe, MarketStreet, The Savings Bank, Vault Training, Stephanie Petty, Esq, and Ventrey Golf Instruction.
