Saturday was an action-packed one for St. Mary’s spring track program, which had its Catholic Central League Middle School-Freshman-Sophomore Meet in the morning, followed by its upperclassmen qualifiers in the evening’s Twilight Invitational in New Bedford.

Rise and shine. St. Mary’s girls placed second in the CCL Meet, highlighted by Jazmin Rodriguez (2nd, 400m hurdles and high jump), Daniella Leo (2nd, 800m), Yomary Nunez (3rd, javelin), Sky Watson (3rd, long jump), and Faith Guy (2nd, shot put).

“I’m extremely impressed with the girls today, especially in the field events, in which younger athletes are sometimes hesitant of or intimidated by the idea of them,” said head coach Tristan Smith. “I’m especially happy about newcomers to the team – Faith Guy and Sky Watson – who made a big impact.”

The boys took fourth behind scoring performances from Jimmy Jennings (3rd, 200m), Josiah Madden (3rd, 400m hurdles), Nick Fusco (2nd, mile), and Cristian Rodriguez (2nd, 2-mile).

“We had a killer day on the track for the younger athletes, especially the distance squad,” Smith said. “Seeing Nick Fusco break the 5-minute mark for the first time was a highlight, for sure.”

As for the upperclassmen in the evening, the St. Mary’s girls received personal-best performances from Cierra Johnson (shot put), Ellie Fox (discus), and Sophia O’Brien (mile), while boys’ medalists were Scott Amin in high jump (2nd place), Thomas Hooks in high jump (6th), and Kyle Kwiatek in the mile (4th). There were also personal bests from Vinny Spirito in the 110m hurdles and Brandon Cruz in the javelin.

“This meet is always special,” Smith said of the Twilight. “It’s just a different atmosphere and I think our results from the evening really reflected that. I love seeing the upperclassmen, some of whom I’ve been coaching for their entire track careers, shine under the lights.”

BOYS LACROSSE

Staples 8
St. John’s Prep 3

Staples (Westport CT) took advantage of its home turf Saturday, handing the St. John’s Prep laxmen (10-1) their first loss of the season.

“The Wreckers exposed the Eagles in all facets of the game and capitalized on numerous St. John’s mistakes throughout the contest,” said Prep coach John Pynchon.

Jake Vana led the Eagles with two goals. Josh Haarmann added another, while Madden McGowan dished out an assist and Jack Doherty won eight of 15 face-offs.

Prep looks to get back on track Monday against Malden Catholic at Glatz Field. Opening face-off is slated for 5:30 p.m.

GIRLS LACROSSE

Reading 14
Marblehead 4

Marblehead held its own in the second half as each side scored three goals, but an 11-1 halftime deficit was too big of a hole to climb out of against visiting Reading.

Ramona Gillett led the Magicians with two goals, followed by Gretchen Smith (goal), Kathryn Commoss (goal, assist), and Maddie Forbes (assist). Molly Bullard made eight saves.

SOFTBALL

St. Mary’s 8
Bishop Fenwick 2

You could say we’ve seen some close St. Mary’s and Bishop Fenwick games this past year – no matter the sport – but Saturday afternoon, the Spartans took care of business at home for their sixth straight win.

Brooke Moloney (2-for-2, 3 runs), Michaela Walker (2-for-4, 2 runs, RBI), and Gabby Marichal (2-for-4, run) led the offensive charge, while Aliza Crean-Oviedo punched out 12 Crusaders in her complete-game win.

BASEBALL

Lynnfield 3
Triton 2

No home diamond, no problem for the baseball Pioneers, who escaped Triton in eight innings. Madux Iovinelli (6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 4 K) came to play on the bump, while Ben Dahlstedt (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K) closed things out for the win.

The eighth inning is when the magic happened. Luke DiSilvio singled before stealing a base. From there, Tyler Adamo singled him home with the game-winning RBI.