By Ken Chaisson
Hometown Weekly Staff
On an evening that started with brutal May heat enough to delay the start and ended twenty degrees cooler under the lights at H. Frederick Herget Athletic Complex on the campus of Braintree High School, the Walpole boys again showed they are creating the golden age of boys track in Walpole.
Walpole scored the most points ever for a Walpole boys’ squad at the recent Bay State Conference (BSC) Championship Meet. Their point total of 116 far surpassed their 2019 previous record of 94 and last year’s total of 86. They finished second to Newton North’s 131 points.
In this decade, the boys track and field team has been dominant with multiple Division 3 and relay championships to go along with cross country and indoor titles. They have won the past three Herget League indoor and outdoor titles setting many individual school records in the process.
The boys are led by head coach Corey Coogan. Coogan was selected as the Bay State Conference Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the Year in 2025 for the second consecutive year.
Senior Arnold Obour-Menseh is now the fastest boy in the Bay State Conference after winning the 100 meter dash in a nailbiter finish in a personal best time of 10.86.
Sawyer Regan was another Walpole champion winning the 400 meter hurdles in a season’s best time of 58.78.
Jake Stenstrom and Luke Murphy came in 2nd and 3rd respectively in the javelin. Stenstrom also came in 2nd in the 100M hurdles.
Nicholas Demelo came in 2nd in the shotput with a personal best heave of 50’6.75” and second in the discus with another personal best toss of 146’2”.
Brady Thomas is the school record holder in the 400 meters with a time of 49.17. He finished 5th in the event at the meet.
Luke Zaharuk is 2nd all time at Walpole in the two mile. He finished 3rd in the one mile race in 4:22.98.
Earlier in the season, Regan, Stenstrom and Griffin McCarthy set the initial Walpole top three scores in the inaugural Pentathlon-High School event.
Previously, the boys earned the Division 3 relay meet championship. After finishing undefeated in their Herget division dual meets, the boys are focused on defending their Division 3 state championship.
The girls are coached by Zach Ganshirt who also coaches indoor track.
They bested Framingham in a dual meet earlier in the year. Their goals entering the BSC meet was to beat Framingham once again and beat one more team. They outpointed the Flyers but fell just short of catching Weymouth.
Some of the strongest competitors for the Lady Timbs were Bridget Tierney who came in 5th in the 800M, Sydney Dias who came in 4th in the two mile and freshwoman Shane Humphreys who came in 2nd in the shotput with a personal best of 34’6” and 5th in the discus.
The 4x100 relay team of Leah Alves, Kristen Barry, Riley Alger, and Molly Diggin came in a strong 4th.
Earlier this season, Madelyn Cunningham set the school record in the 2000M steeplechase.
The upcoming division 3 championships are scheduled for Thursday May 28 and Saturday May 30 at Merrimack College.
