Rokosz Hurls Javalin to Division 2 State Title

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Photo: Alex Rokosz on the pitch for Belmont High.

Belmont High Senior Alex Rokosz brought home a state championship medal from the Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships held on a breezy Saturday morning, May 25, at Merrimack College.

Seeded fourth coming into the meet, Rokosz took the title with a throw a personal best of 167 feet, 6-inches beating back the efforts of Central Catholic teammates Brendan Cesati (165’9″) and top seed Lewy Baez-Troncoso (162’9″).

Rokosz now heads to the All-State Meet on Thursday, May 30 at Westfield State University.

Alex follows in the footsteps of his older sister, Katrina Rokosz, who took third in the javalin in the Division III meet and then threw at the National meet in 2016.

Both Rokosz’s were outstanding soccer players for Belmont High School.

Belmont Track’s Krafian, Calvin, Relays Shine At Coaches’ Invitational Meet

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Photo: MSTCA State Coaches Meet director Mike Miller and the field of an athlete of the meet Shira Stoller (left) and the Overall athlete of the meet Anoush Krafian (right). (photo credit: MSTCA)

In a warm-up for the league, division and state championships upcoming in the next three weeks, Belmont High top track athletes are hinting at some big results after putting forth some outstanding performances at the Massachusetts State Track Coaches’ Association Invitational on Saturday, May 12.

At the boys’ events held at Durfee High in Fall River, senior Calvin Perkins destroyed a talented field in the 400 meters, powering home to win in 48.98 seconds, a full second and a half in front of Boston College High sophomore Shawn Carter. Perkins then anchored Belmont’s 4×400 relay to his second victory of the day, again in impressive fashion as the quartet finished in 3 minutes and 27.95 seconds, two seconds clear of the second place squad.

Also showing his talent in two events, junior Merrill Barnes finished in fifth in the long jump (19 feet, 2 and a quarter inches) and tied for eighth in the high jump (5 feet, 10 inches). Senior Mike Pomer raced to 10th in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:00.64.

As for a glimpse into the future, Belmont freshman Preston Jackson-Stephen won the freshman 100 meters in 11.88 seconds, the Marauders’ sophomore 4×100 placed fifth and sophomore Stephen Carvalho dipped under 10 minutes in the two miles in a time of 9:56.77 to place 10th.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Belmont senior star Anoush Krafian came away with her share of silverware as she strode to an easy victory in her specialty, the 100 meter hurdles, in 15.31 second (she qualified for the finals in 15.17) while finishing second in the high jump (5 feet, 2 inches) and a tie for ninth in the long jump with a leap of 16 feet and a half inch. At the end of the competition held a Sharon High School, despite some outstanding performances – including Natick junior Grace Connolly breaking Olympic bronze medalist and New York City marathon winner Shalene Flannigan’s state two-mile record set in 1999 – Krafian left with the Outstanding Overall Athlete of the Meet.

Belmont Girls’ 4×400 relay took home fourth in 4:15.81 while freshman Victoria Meringer finished sixth in the freshman mile in 5:34.23.

Sports: Peterson (2nd), Macauley (3rd) Podium at All State Track Meet

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Photo: Meggie Macauley’s third place podium finish at the All State Track Meet.

 

A pair of seniors celebrated their final day as students at Belmont High School with podium performances at the All State Outdoor Track Meet held Saturday, June 4 at Westfield State University.

Luke Peterson used his consistency in jumping long at each big meet while his competitors fell off while benefiting from the fastest tailwind of the day to finish second in the Boys’ Long Jump. Peterson’s 21 foot, 8 1/2 inch leap beat the third place jump of North Andover’s Matthew Manteiga by a 1/4 inch. Newton South’s Anthony DeNitto won the meet with a 23′ 9 1/2″ jump. 

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The big surprise of the afternoon’s meet was Belmont’s Meggie Macauley. Seed 23rd for the event, Macauley raced in the first of three heats with the slowest qualifying times. Undeterred by her placement in the inaugural heat, Macauley blasted over the ten 30-inch tall hurdles in 1 minute, 5.28 seconds, breaking her school record by 1.2 seconds. And when the second heat finished, Macauley remained in the lead. In the third heat, only Cynthia Aroke of Peabody (who finished 2nd in the 100 hurdles earlier) in 1:02.68 and Shannon Meisberger of Lenox Memorial in 1:04.08 could best Macauley’s time.

“Meggie has excelled from the first opportunity she had to race the 400 hurdles. During her first race this season, she broke the previous school record by approximately two seconds,” said Melissa Glotzbecker, Belmont’s Girls’ Track Head Coach. 

“Today Meggie displayed a great deal of grit, determination, and focus on running the third-fastest time of the day. Today was her breakthrough race we knew she was capable of, a result of her hard work and ability to find another gear even when she is most tired,” said Glotzbecker.

High hopes were anticipated for the girls’ 4×400 relay which came into the meet ranked number one in the state. But relays are funny events as many teams will run with less skilled runners to make the finals then change the lineup with speedier runners. In the finals, Belmont’s quartet of Danielle Kelly, MacAulay, Sara Naumann and Julia Cella took 7th, running a second slower than its best time set last week at the Eastern Mass. Division 3. 

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“Coming into the meet as the number one seed was a lot of pressure on our athletes, but a challenge they were prepared,” said Glotzbecker.

“We are very proud of the girls for placing at the statewide level, especially for being the only team to break the four-minute barrier three times this season. Although I know they were hoping to improve on their performance from last week, they were still able to post their second-best performance of the season,” she said.

Other Belmont tracksters at the All State meet included senior Katrina Rokosz who came in 13th in the javelin with a throw of 108 feet and 6 inches; junior Naumann finishing 16th in the 800 meters in 2:19.81 and sophomore Calvin Perkins in 16th in 51.09 in the 400 meters. 

And for two Belmont representatives, the next stop will be the New Balance Outdoor Nationals on June 17-19: Rokosz qualified with an earlier PR of 121′ 1″ while the relay team will compete in the sprint medley relay and the 4×400.