It was a moment that had been brewing for 43 years.
Lunenburg girls’ track coach Steve Kyajohnian has led the program for the last 43 years and had some groups nearly secure a state championship. However, the title had never come home to the Central Mass program and it was going to take some late heroics on Saturday afternoon to finally get it done.
The Blue Knights won the final two events of the day, the 4×800 meter relay and the 4×400 meter relay, to earn 20 points and finally claim the top spot in Division 5.
“This is unbelievable for the school,” Kyajohnian said. “We’ve come close so many times and we knew what was on the line in the last two events. It’s just miraculous, we train hard, we train in the cold, we train in parking lots. Just to see them all come together was awesome.”
Lunenburg had multiple entrants place well in different events, including Olivia Coronella, who placed second in the two-mile run and helped the 4×800 meter relay team claim first.
“I just wanted to do what I could for the team,” Coronella said. “Everyone was doing what they could for the team. We were a little scared but we ended up pulling through.”
Lunenburg’s 42 points edged Seekonk by two points while Sutton finished third with 33 points.
The boys’ side saw Parker Charter build off its cross country title in the fall to claim the indoor championship. Despite the success from the fall, head coach Ben Benoit said Saturday’s victory was “unexpected”
“It wasn’t my goal, it was their goal,” Benoit said. “We knew we’d have to be near perfect today to have a chance and they were near perfect.”
Parker Charter saw multiple individual winners with Nathaniel Henshaw winning the one-mile run and two-mile run, Danny Garrison winning the 1,000-meter run and the 4×800 meter relay team taking first place.
“It’s been building,” Benoit said of the team’s development. “They expect a lot from themselves, they expect success and they learn really quick how hard they have to work to be at this level.”
Outside of the team finishes, there were a few notable individual performances. Abington’s Nathan Calcano Da Silva set a meet record in the 300 dash with a blazing time of 34.56 seconds. His brother, Aiden, finished second in the event just slightly behind at 34.98.
Also, the Snowden-Fenway 4×400 meter relay team set a meet record by dominating the field with a time of 3:30.68. The foursome of Christian Swift, Terrance McGhee Jr, Jacob Othoniel Hernandez Mejia and Nasir Camille entered with the goal of setting it at the familiar course but Swift said actually finishing the job was surreal.
“It feels bizarre,” Swift said. “We knew it was possible, but just having it in our heads and earning that title, it was magnificent.”
