Hornets Nest for Week of February 21, 2020

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Track: Kenny and Cromwell Advance to State Meet

The Manchester Essex track teams had yet another ground-breaking performance at the Division 5 meet on Sunday, February 16. The boys finished 13th overall with 13 points while the girls finished 14th overall with 10 points. Will Kenney led the boys with a decisive win in the mile, finishing 5 seconds before second place with a season-best 4:24.55. Sam Kenney finished 8th in a tightly packed and hotly contested 1000 and broke the school record with a time of 2:39.60. The 4 x 800 team of Eli Heanue, James Wendell, Sam Kenney and Will Kenney rounded out the scoring with a 7th place finish (8:49.60). James Wendell finished 12th in the 600 (1:29.06), and Eli Heanue participated in the high jump. Mia Cromwell stole the show in the 1000 winning the event by over 8 seconds and breaking her own school record (3:00.80). Teammate Elizabeth Loring finished 24th in the 600 (1:51.60) 

Will and Mia moved on to the State Meet on Saturday, February 22, at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.

Swim 

The Hornets Swim teams recently competed in the Girls and Boys North sectional meet at MIT on February 8 (girls) and February 9 (boys). The girls' sectional team included senior captains Elizabeth Athanas and Maddie Carvalho; Junior Greta Dickson; Sophomores Carson Komishane, Shea Furse, Emma Ketchum, Alex Briggs, Olivia Gado and 8th graders Liv Cahill and Libby Mulry. Furse, Athanas, Carvalho, and Ketchum placed 5th in the medley relay; Athanas, Gado, Carvalho and Furse placed 6th in the 400 free relay; Furse placed 2nd in the 200 free and 1st in the 100 back for the 2nd year in a row; Athanas placed 11th in the 200 IM and 6th in the 100 breast. Komishane swam in the 500 free; Ketchum swam the 100 fly; Carvalho swam the 100 free and 100 fly, qualifying in the 100 fly for the state meet. Briggs, Ketchum, Gado and Komishane swam the 200 free relay. The team placed 7th overall. The boys' sectional team included senior captain Josh Dobson, junior captain Sam Rice, juniors Joaquim Mittermaier and Sean Phelan, and sophomores Connor Queenan and Aidan Cunningham. Mittermaier, Rice, Phelan and Cunningham swam the 200 medley relay; Mittermaier, Rice, Dobson and Phelan swam the 200 free and 400 free relays. Rice qualified for states using the legal split from the 200 free relay. Dobson swam the 200 and 500 free. The 200 free relay came in 15th place. 

The teams also competed at the Division 2 state meet on Feb 15 and 16. The girls swam first on February 15. The state team included Athanas, Carvalho, Dickson, Ketchum, Furse, Briggs, Komishane and Gado. The medley relay of Athanas, Carvalho, Furse and Ketchum placed 8th; 400 free relay of Athanas, Carvalho, Furse and Gado placed 10th. Furse placed 5th in the 200 free and 2nd in the 100 back; Athanas placed 15th in 200 IM and 5th in the 100 breast; Carvalho swam the 100 fly, and Briggs, Gado, Ketchum and Komishane swam the 200 free relay. The girls placed 11th overall. The boys' state meet team included Dobson, Rice, Phelan, Queenan and Cunningham. Dobson swam the 200 and 500 free; Rice swam the 50 free the 200 medley, and the 200 free included Dobson, Rice, Phelan, Cunningham and the 400 free included Queenan, Cunningham, Rice and Phelan.  

Ski  

Hubbard, Clark, Rosen qualify for state races on March 4 . The alpine ski season came to a close last week.  

The varsity boys finished with four wins, and eight losses and girls finished slightly better with a 5 – 9 season.  

Though the overall scoring is team based in the North Shore Ski League, skiing is, in reality, an individual sport. On Wednesday, February 12, the league held its All-Star Interscholastic Race, with the top eight racers from each team being invited. Junior captains, Ryan Clark and Alex Rosen, finished the race less than half a second apart and took 16th and 17th place. The highlight of the race was senior girls captain Hannah Hubbard. Hubbard again bested the entire field, winning the race. Hubbard not only took first place in her final NSSL race, but she also secured her spot as the best girl alpine racer in the entire league with her number one overall ranking. Hubbard, Rosen and Clark will be representing the "Alpine Hornets" on March 4 at Berkshire East Mountain in the state championship. Hubbard is ranked number one, Rosen thirteen and Clark fourteenth. It will be an exciting day and race.  

Girls Basketball 

The Manchester Essex Girls Basketball team finished the regular season with a 10-10 record, qualifying for the MIAA Division 3 State Tournament and placing second in the Cape Ann Small Division. 

On Monday, February 10, the Hornets hosted Newburyport. The game was close through three quarters before the Hornets fell behind and lost 31-44 to the Cape Ann Large opponent. Emily Jacobsen scored 15 points in the effort and Bridget Twombly added eight. Lily Athanas had four and Emma Fitzgerald and Madeline Lai each added two. Lai added nine rebounds and Sophia Pomeroy six rebounds. Twombly added four assists. On Wednesday, February 12, the Hornets traveled to Swampscott, where they got their 10th win of the season with a 39-29 victory over the Big Blue. Emily Jacobsen led the team with 12 points and three blocks. Emma Fitzgerald and GG Huet each added six points. Huet added four assists. Bridget Twombly also had six points and nine rebounds. Madeline Lai had four points and seven rebounds, Lily Athanas three points and Sophia Pomeroy two points and six rebounds. On Friday, February 14, the Hornets traveled to Amesbury for the final game of the regular season. Despite a good effort, the Hornets struggled to contain the Amesbury offense and lost 38-61. Emma Fitzgerald led with 10 points; Lily Athanas added nine, and Emily Jacobsen seven. GG Huet had three, Bridget Twombly and Madeline Donnellan Valade each added two and Madeline Lai, Emily Schuh and Calista Lai each added one.  

Boys Basketball 

Seniors lift Manchester Essex Boys Basketball Team to a 71-38 win over rival Rockport High School on Thursday, February 13. The starting lineup consisted of five seniors: Kellen Furse, Mason Paccone, Ian Taliaferro, Spencer Meek and Jake Edwards. Senior Captain Lars Arntsen approached Coach St. Laurent early in the week and asked for his fellow seniors to start in his regular spot. Coach St. Laurent noted, "Lars is a tremendous leader, ultimate teammate, and it was very nice for Lars to offer his starting spot to his senior friends and teammates." 

Senior guard Kellen Furse had a monster night for Manchester Essex, chasing 1,000 career points. The senior captain now needs just 12 after pouring in 39 points in Thursday's win. Mason Paccone also scored in double digits for the Hornets with 15, hitting five three-pointers.  

The team will play the final regular-season game on Wednesday, February 19, at home against Bishop Fenwick (5 p.m.). Please come cheer on the Hornets (14-5) and see Furse pursue 1000 points. 

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