Going the Distance

High School Nationals, June 2011

On June 16-18, Coach Fernando Braz led a group of Peabody High School athletes to the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, North Carolina. This championship event was again the national highlight of the high school track and field season.

Zach Grube, a 17-year old junior, cleared 6-6 to win the national championship in the Emerging Elite class. Zach cleared the initial height of 6-2 and never looked back, finishing with his winning height in a one-on-one jump-off. Talent and inner strength came through for a national title.

Earlier, Nick Pigulski finished sixth in the javelin with a personal best throw of 158-1.

The 4x800 team of Evan Braz (1:58.05), Keane Terenzoni (2:01.2), Jason Hiou (2:01.52) and Nick Christensen (1:58.3) ran 7:58.98 for third place in the Emerging Elite class. It was the third fastest time in Peabody history for that event and 15 seconds quicker than what the team did at the Division 1 state meet a few weeks ago.

Coach Braz has taken Peabody's qualifiers to the national outdoor meet nine times in the last 11 years, but "that's the first time we've gone to the podium (with top six finishes) that many times. The expectation level is always the same for us. It's a progression from the Northeastern Conference meets through the state meets and then nationals. When you get this far, it doesn't matter if you're in a seeded or unseeded heat. We go in with the idea that we're going to do our best. It's an opportunity to go to the podium and this is obviously the most consistent we've been."

Fernando said that Nick Pigulski "set the tone" for his teammates with his sixth place showing in the javelin on Thursday. "Everything he did was leading up to this," Coach Braz said of Pigulski. "At 5-foot-8, he's not exactly a prototype javelin thrower, but he's been working at it for three years and it was a tremendous performance and something special for us. Nick and Zach both work with (assistant coach) Tom Holleran and it's great to see results like that."

The 4x800 relay team probably had the biggest question mark surrounding them. After running 8:13 in the Division 1 state meet, Peabody made a decision to skip the all-state meet. Nick Christensen needed to get over a nagging injury and Coach Braz felt that with the proper rest and preparation, the team could regroup and excel at the nationals. It couldn't have played out any better. There was a huge difference between Peabody's performance during the season and the one they put together at nationals.

The distance medley team of Evan Braz, Nick Ingham, Keane Terenzoni, and Nick Christensen broke the Peabody HS record with a tremendous 10:31.49.

[Reporting courtesy of Fernando Braz, and Mike Grenier of the The Salem News.
Photos courtesy of Ruth Grube.]

Keane Terenzoni