By Ken Chaisson
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
The Walpole boys’ and girls’ indoor track teams faced off against the Milton Wildcats on Thursday, January 23, 2025, at the Reggie Lewis Center, continuing their strong performances this season.
Both teams have been rewriting the Walpole High School indoor track record book over the past two years. Coming off the MSTCA Division 3 state relays the prior weekend, the Milton boys captured the boys' title out of 28 teams. The Wildcats entered the final dual meet of the Bay State Conference season undefeated, but they were handed their first loss by Walpole, 62-38. The victory marked the Walpole boys' second consecutive undefeated Herget dual meet season.
The Walpole boys are captained by Owen Abril (hurdles), Cole Bowden (distance), Shane Hughes (jumps, hurdles), Scott Falvey (mid-distance), Austin Feener (sprints), and Drake Grant (shot put). They are coached by Samantha Rafferty and are focused on defending their Division 3 state championship in indoor track.
The boys’ meet featured numerous standout performances. Luke Zahurak set a personal record in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:39.54. Nicolas Demelo also recorded a personal best in the shot put with a toss of 36 feet, 3.5 inches. Brady Thomas achieved a PR in the 600 meters, clocking in at 1:26.53. Previously, Thomas won the 400 meters at the MSTCA Boston Holiday Challenge, qualifying for Nationals, and holds the Walpole school record in the 400 meters. Austin Feener set a new Walpole school record in the 300 meters with a time of 35.48, edging out Thomas. Feener also posted a season-best 6.60 in the 55-meter dash and is second all-time at Walpole in both the 55-meter and 60-meter dashes. Owen Abril won the long jump and added a PR in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.88, narrowly edging Milton by 0.01 seconds.
The boys’ team celebrated a solid victory, further cementing their strong season.
The Walpole girls’ team has also had impressive performances this season, including at the Division 3 relays and their dual meet against Milton.
The girls' team is coached by Kevin Ostaszewski, with captains Bhakti Belle, Aideen Smith, Katie Chamoun, Sienna Ddungu, and Danielle Danna leading the way. The team placed sixth out of 27 teams at the recent Division 3 relays meet. In the dual meet against Milton, the girls narrowly lost, 57-43, but had several standout performances. Emily Dunn set a personal record in the 55 meters with a time of 7.47, ranking second all-time at Walpole High School. Evelyn Ogebor, Aideen Smith, and Kristen Barry also set personal bests in the 55 meters, with Barry improving her long jump PR to 15 feet, 2 inches. Bridget Tierney lowered her one-mile best to 5:35.85, and Ila Zollo ran the sixth-fastest 1,000-meter time in Massachusetts this season. Nicky Mahoney posted a PR in the 600 meters with a time of 1:50.51, and Maeve Connors set a personal best in the 300 meters with 45.37. The 4x200 relay also set a season's best time of 1:50.75.
Both teams now face a challenging schedule of divisional and state meets throughout February.
