Another meet. Another victory. That’s the way it has gone for the Triton girls outdoor track team (pictured above). Undefeated during the regular season the girls added the Cape Ann League Open championship to a truly remarkable season at windy Hamilton-Wenham on May 24th.
“It’s a thrill,” said Triton coach Joe Colbert reflecting on the victory. “It is certainly one of the top moments of my coaching career. This is a special group of hard-working kids. We’ve waited for this for a long time.” Someone on hand suggested that the last time Triton took the CAL Open was in the late 1980s.
“We won because we’ve got some stars but we also have depth,” was how Coach Colbert explained the outcome. The stars were certainly out, even on a Saturday afternoon, as Deanna Latham, Nikki Wurdeman, and Rachel Bourque dominated multiple events and combined for 74 of Triton’s 115 points on their own. The magnitude of those numbers is better understood when you realize that together the three girls outscored the full-squad final totals of every other competing school except for second place North Reading.
When the CAL Open was over Deanna Latham (pictured here) took five trips to the front during the awards ceremony. The first four trips were for medals and the final one was for her selection as MVP of the event. The sophomore took first in the long jump, high hurdles, and triple jump as well as second in the 200 meters.
Several other girls from the area did quite well. Newburyport’s Meghann Ronan won the high jump while teammate Kaitlyn Wallace finished second in the shot put and third in the discuss.
The top performer for Amesbury was Dawn Storek with a third in the javelin. For Ipswich, it was Molly Miller with a third in the high hurdles.
The Hamilton-Wenham boy’s team, like the Triton girls, remained undefeated.
The Triton boys finished fourth. Pete Rock was the team’s top point scorer. He won the long jump and finished second in the 400 meters behind the winner, Newburyport’s Tom Svirsky (pictured here).
Richie Pace also did well for Newburyport getting a first in the shot put and a second in the discus.
Other area firsts were by Amesbury’s Ben Lord (pole vault) (shown here) and Triton’s Kyle Devenish (triple jump).
Triton’s Billy Tindle took second in the high hurdles and fellow Viking Andrew Goodwin placed third in the mile.
Amesbury’s John Lannan tied for third in the pole vault and teammate Kevin Johnston was third in the 100 meters.
Newburyport got a third place finish from Thayer Adsit in the 800 meters while the top pointer scorer for Ipswich was Neil Verzins ending up third in the shot put.
McClelland Miscellanea 
