With a pair of event wins from freshman Ross McDonald and single wins from Boye Akinwande, Sam Donovan, Gerald Arneaud, and the 4x400 relay team, the Newton South boys track team won the team competition at last night's Dual County League Championship Meet.
South is believed to have compiled 131 points to beat out second-place Lincoln-Sudbury (107), while the Lions girls finished third, but complete results had not yet been fully calculated as of last night's deadline. Originally slated for Wednesday, the meet was to be scored by automatic timer, but with a timer unavailable for last night, the scoring had to be done by hand. As such, the places and times, particularly of the field events were uncertain.
But what is certain is that South won the overall competition thanks to 12 top-four performances. McDonald won the long jump (tentative 20-7) and pole vault (12-6), while Akinwande set a PR in winning the tripe jump (43-5), Arneaud won the 400 (50.0), Donovan took the mile (4:26.23) and the 4x400 (Arneaud, Senyo Agawu, James Huth and Justin Albert; 3:31.87) emerged victorious as well.
Senior Brad Pruente finished second in the 110 hurdles (15.21) and third in the 300 hurdles (40.8), while Agawu (22.7) and Huth (11.12) placed second in their events. Albert, a senior, was third in the 200 (52.24) and junior Roy Ribitsky was fourth in the pole vault (11-0).
For the girls, junior Candace Bailey won the 100 in a PR 12.1 and helped the 4x100 relay to victory, while Bridget Dahlberg won the mile, but few other results were available to be reported as of last night. Complete results and full coverage will be included in Monday's edition of the Tribune.
Girls Tennis
South 5, Concord-Carlisle 0
Well-rested after a two-day respite that followed a stretch of 13 matches in 15 days, the Newton South girls tennis played, in coach Bob Jampol's words, its ``strongest match of the year,'' sweeping past Dual County League rival Concord-Carlisle.
The Lions (14-1, 13-0 DCL) moved closer to its second straight unbeaten DCL season and outright league title, while beating C-C, with which they split the DCL crown in 2004 and 2005, for the fifth straight time heading back to the beginning of last season.
After missing Tuesday's 3-2 win at Acton-Boxboro with a wrist injury, sophomore No. 1 Lauren Hollender routed C-C senior Tasha Stone, 6-1, 6-0, deftly using a combination of deep groundies and sharp slices and drop shots. Senior Katie Young won her second singles match was next, efficiently disposing of Lacey Herchek, 6-1, 6-0. At third singles, freshman Mika Braginsky led most of the way to defeat freshman Lisa Sample, 6-1 6-3, improving her record in all matches, team or individual tournament, to 12-6.
First doubles duo Marissa Mamon and Elana Polivy continued their domination of their Dual County League foes (they have not lost a set within the league and only two sets all season) with a 6-3, 6-0 victory, running off the last nine games against seniors Molly Battle and Fran Granato. Moments later, second doubles tandem Jilli Schwartz and Stacey Eisenberg won in straight sets, beating juniors Liz Yates and Steph Lehman, 6-3, 6-2, to run their record to 10-2.
Assuming the rain holds off, South travels to Westford Academy today (4 p.m.). On Saturday, six of seven starters (Hollender, Young, Polivy and Mamon, Eisenberg and Schwartz) will compete in the quarterfinals of the North Individual tournament tomorrow (9 a.m.).
Boys Volleyball
South 3, Boston Latin 2
Defeated 3-2 in a lengthy battle at Boston Latin earlier this season, South returned the favor to its Dual County League rival, defeating the Wolfpack, 3-2, in a marathon, 2«-hour match yesterday afternoon.
The Lions jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a 26-24 victory in Game 1 and a 25-22 triumph in Game 2. But sloppy passing and poor serving sabotaged South in Game 3 (25-16) and Game 4 (25-17) losses, pulling Latin into a 2-2 tie. South put the match away in the fifth game with two kills each from Noah Merlin and junior outside hitter Jeff Aeckerstein. With libero Varoon Ramadurai out with a concussion, David Sim came off the bench, helping the Lions' decisive win with strong serving and passing.
In Game 1, Aeckerstein and fellow outside hitter Josh Einhorn combined for six kills and Ethan Sachs had four roofs as the Lions fought back from an 18-14 deficit for the win. Sachs led the charge again in Game 2 with two kills and a roof as South came back from a 10-5 gap, making only three attack errors in the process.
``We had some hiccups early on where we weren't executing well, but we started to use the block really well,'' said Lion coach Todd Elwell. ``It was great to see the guys develop that character and pull out a win in five games. It seems like we're getting those games now whereas we weren't early in the season. Those are the type of games we'll be playing in the tournament, so it's good to see the kids persevere.''
South hosts Quincy today (4 p.m.).
Softball
Weston 9, South 3
South's 1-4 hitters had one hit each, combining to go 4-for-11, but the Lions mustered little else against Weston ace Maria Posa in a 9-3 Dual County League loss yesterday.
Sarah Pellogrom and Kate Brodoff each knocked in a run with their singles, while Kathy Russell smoked a double and Emily Levy added a single.
Junior righty Dannie Bucaccio pitched well in six innings of work, fighting through an ailing wrist for the last three frames. Freshman Marissa Leavitt worked a hitless seventh, striking out two for South (3-12, 2-11 DCL).
