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BOSTON – Led by a sensational freshman shot put thrower Ray Beardmore, the Lunenburg boys’ indoor track and field team made a quality showing at the Mid-Wach C League Championship Meet last Sunday at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. Beardmore was a few feet shy of his personal best, but still turned out one of the most dominant performances Central Mass will see this year.
Littleton High won the meet with 113 points, followed by Quabbin Regional with 78 points, Lunenburg with 72.5 points, Gardner with 43 points, Oakmont Regional with 41.5 points, and lastly Hudson with 24.
“It’s usually a pretty competitive league meet,” Lunenburg boys’ indoor track and field head coach Mike Spare said. “There are usually two or three teams that are within a few points. Littleton has been good for the last few years. We have a younger team, with three seniors on the team.”
“The league championship was a lot of fun and we had a lot of kids with personal records and places in that meet,” Spare continued. “Seven kids and two relays hit the state qualifying standards too, so it was really fun to watch. We’re definitely excited for the district meet this weekend and hoping a few more kids can hit the standards for the Division 5 state championship.”
Beardmore might only be a freshman in class rank but is on a trajectory in the shot put to potentially have a very long career in the event. Beardmore won the individual title at the league championship with relative ease with a very impressive toss of 49 feet 4.75 inches, and that was 4.5 feet ahead of the nearest competitor who would’ve won the league himself most years.
Beardmore has a personal best slightly over 52 feet, which puts him in contention as one of the elite throwers in the country for his age.
“You aren’t going to throw your personal best every day,” Spare said. “He was within a few percent of his best throw, so a few feet up or down is pretty normal. With the season it’s safe to say he’s basically a 50-foot thrower. I don’t know too many freshmen who have been at that point, so he’s got a long career ahead of him.”
“It was his first league championship as a high school student, and we’re hoping he wins district’s too,” Spare continued. “He actually ditched a Vegas vacation to be able to throw at district’s.”
The Blue Knights were able to capture two individual gold medals, as junior Cameron Begley secured the 600-meter run with a 1:27.18. The event was Lunenburg’s best as classmate Connor Martin secured third place (1:27.99).
“Begley won the 600m and led off in the 4x400m relay that won,” Spare said. “(Begley) works hard everyday. (Begley and Martin) are really close.”
In the sprints Shawn Stillman captured fourth place in the 55m dash (6.92), while Jake Burns (37.51) and Mike Laine (37.74) went 3 and 4 in the 300m dash.
“We got Jake Burns back from an injury, and he ended up placing in the 300m,” Spare said. “We had to pull him from the 4x200m relay and Ethan Washington ended up going in and helped us to get second.”
In addition to Lunenburg’s success in the 600m, Lucas Pentedemos pulled in a quality second place in the 1,000m run (2:48.65). Matt Pilon pulled in sixth place in the mile (4:58.99) and 2 mile (11:16.98).
“(Pilon) has been climbing the ladder all season and broke 5 minutes in the meet,” Spare said.
Dylan Newcomb finished fifth in the shot put (38-10) and Nathan Ayles took fifth in the high jump (5-00).
“There are some years that 38 feet in the shot put has won the league,” Spare said. “Usually it’s closer to 40, but it’s kind of unusual to have that many kids over 40 feet. (Newcomb) is a senior, and is going to throw the weight in the state meet, which is a new event.”
Lunenburg made a nice push in the relays, with the mile relay capturing gold (3:43.83), and the 4x200m relay taking second (1:39.25). The 4x800m relay rounded out the scoring in sixth place with a 11:17.47.
Begley, Pentedemos, Jayden Pereira, and Martin made up that gold medal winning mile relay. Martin spent years as the young member of the quartet but now is the proven upperclassman.
For a story on the Lunenburg girls’ league championship title pick up a copy of the Lunenburg Ledger in stores, orr subscribe to the Ledger by visiting lunenburgledger.com.