ME Hornet boys’ indoor track team: (Top to bottom, left to right): Logan Cooper, Jack Newton, Charlie Lations, Finn O’Hara, Connor Riley Morgan, Luke Donohoe, Nate Gardner, Lucas Rodi, Henry Stevens, Sam Bothwell and Nicky Clements.
(Courtesy Photos)
ME Hornet girls’ indoor track team: (Top to bottom, left to right): Augie Capotosto, Summer Demeo, Megan Hurd, Caroline MacKinnon, Abby Kent, Caroline Eliassen, Whitney Turner, Faye Bourgeois, Gwen Berger, Cia Donohoe, Lucia Wendell, Sabine Cooper, Izzy Zagrobski, Sylvia McCavanagh, Rachel Gallant, Anna O’Leary, Stella Straub and Charlotte Crocker.
It’s playoff time for winter sports teams at Manchester Essex, and the local basketball teams will host a doubleheader of postseason play on Friday night.
The Manchester Essex girls’ basketball team finished in the top 15 in the Div. 4 Power Rankings, finishing 13th at this level in the state. The Hornets were 15-5 overall and 8-5 in a very competitive Cape Ann League, which should provide as preparation for the jump in challenge promised by postseason play. The girls’ team will host Blue Hills RVT on March 3 (5 p.m., MERHS) in the MIAA Div. 4 Round of 32.
The Manchester Essex boys’ basketball team finished the season with a perfect 15-0 record in the Cape Ann League and a 17-3 record overall. Next up for the Hornets is hosting a Div. 4 Round of 32 Tournament game against Bay Path RVT on March 3 (7 p.m., MERHS). The boys’ team finished in the top ten of the Div. 4 Power Rankings, placing them ninth overall in the state at this level.
Both local ice hockey teams finished 29th overall in the Div. 4 power rankings, with the Rockport boys’ hockey team -- a co-op that includes players hailing from MERHS -- finishing 7-12-1 and the Marblehead girls’ (another co-op with ME student athletes on the roster) finished 4-15-1 and were slated to face Pentucket at Veterans Memorial Ice Rink at 7 p.m. on March 1 in the first round of the Div. 1 playoffs.
The indoor track teams are done for the season, with both the boys and girls squads finishing the regular season with identical 2-2 records.
Among the postseason highlights for the boys’ team was a 12th-place finish in the mile for ME’s Finn O’Hara (4:28.82) during the 37th Annual MIAA Indoor Track & Field All State Championship during the weekend of February 25-26, while the boys as a team finished 15th overall in the MIAA Div. 5 Indoor Track & Field Championships on February 16.
O’Hara finished second in the mile during this February 16 event, while Nate Gardner placed 9th in the 55-meter hurdles and 13th in the long jump. The girls team also saw strong performances in this event, with Megan Hurd finishing 15th in the long jump, Sabine Copper finishing 15th in the two-mile and Cecelia Donohoe finishing 23rd in the 600.
