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Search Results for: d'anieri

Thomas D’Anieri breaks Wellesley High outdoor mile record

May 21, 2016 by Bob Brown

thomas d'anieri and rich benner
WHS’s Thomas D’Anieri and WHS alum Rich Benner. (Photo by Kimberly Benner)

Wellesley High senior Thomas D’Anieri set a new school record for the outdoor mile at this past week’s Bay State League Championships in Braintree, jumping out to an early lead on the blue oval and never giving it up to finish in 4.19.93. D’Anieri last fall was crowned as the state’s top cross country runner and led his team to its best season ever.

At this week’s Bay State event, D’Anieri topped the previous record of 4:21.7 set by Rich Benner in 1974 at the State Coach’s Invitational (Benner broke Bruce Olsen’s 1972 record of 4:26.7).

Benner, who was on hand for the race in Braintree, said: “My WHS Coach, Will St. Cyr, emphasized the importance of being part of a tradition of strong distance runners, so I (and other runners from my era) have enjoyed seeing the resurgent strength of the Wellesley distance program.”

He and his wife Kim also enjoyed seeing their son John, a senior at Needham High who has made a strong comeback from injuries, win the 2-mile race at the Bay State meet.

Meanwhile, the season isn’t over for Thomas D’Anieri or his twin brother Matt, who torched the field in the 800 meter race at the Bay State event to set a new WHS record (1:56:21) and who also broke the school’s indoor mile record over the winter (4:17:79). The brothers still have a few more meets to go — including divisionals, states and nationals — before they wrap up their WHS running careers.

MORE: New Wellesley running coach brings Olympic experience

Filed Under: Sports, Wellesley High School

     

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Wellesley High’s D’Anieri twins destroy BAA Invitational Mile field

April 16, 2016 by Bob Brown

Thomas & Matt D'Anieri BAA Invitational Mile
Thomas & Matt D’Anieri out in front of BAA Invitational Mile field

 

Wellesley Middle School's Allison Sibold wins the BAA Middle School Invitational 1000-meter race
Wellesley Middle School’s Allison Sibold wins the BAA Middle School Invitational 1000-meter race

 

Wellesley High School seniors Matt and Thomas D’Anieri worked together at the BAA Invitational High School Mile on Saturday morning to out-leg 14 other high school runners representing communities along the Boston Marathon course. The twins crossed the finish line — the same one used for the marathon — in matching times of 4:33.1. The next closest runner was 7 seconds back.

Unlike when famous sports siblings like Venus and Serena Williams face off in tourneys, there didn’t need to be a single winner in this event. The brothers had never competed in an official race against each other before and it was anyone’s guess who would win (anyone betting on the race would be out of luck, as it turned out). Thomas is the reigning state cross country champ, and both boys have set WHS running records.

The boys’ performance gave Wellesley the BAA title, and the girls’ reps — Eve Driver and Valerie Collins — also teamed to give Wellesley the victory in their race. Driver and Collins finished 3rd and 4th respectively, fighting a tough headwind at times on the 3-loop course.

WHS's Eve Driver, BAA Invitational Mile
WHS’s Eve Driver, BAA Invitational Mile

 

WHS's Valerie Collins, BAA Invitational Mile
WHS’s Valerie Collins, BAA Invitational Mile

 

In the middle school 1000-meter race, Wellesley Middle School’s Allison Sibold won the girls’ race.

There was actually a pretty big crowd in Copley Square, some friends and family of the runners, but many more who were in town just to soak up the Boston Marathon experience (many people stood on the side of the street I was on, avoiding the cold shade of the seats that you see in the background…

Full BAA Invitational race results here.

Filed Under: Sports, Wellesley High School

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More accolades for Wellesley High cross country: Globe names D’Anieri runner of the year, Broe coach of the year

December 11, 2015 by Bob Brown

Thomas D'Anieri cross country wellesley miaa all state meet westfield
Wellesley High XC coach Tim Broe with runner Thomas D’Anieri at the All-State meet

The Boston Globe’s All-Scholastics honors for fall student-athletes have started to trickle out and the big winners that we’ve seen so far are senior Thomas D’Anieri, named Division 1 Runner of the Year, Tim Broe, cross country coach of the year, and Jennifer Dutton, Wellesley’s girls’ swimming coach.

D’Anieri and first-year WHS coach Broe led the Wellesley boys’ team to an undefeated regular season and its first conference championship since 1979. D’Anieri set course records in both the Bay State Conference championship (15:12) and Division 1 All-State meet (15:16).

Now they both turn their attention to the indoor track season, which started this week with wins for the boys and girls teams.

Separately, Dutton guided the all-star-studded Raider swim team to a 10-2-1 fall,  a Bay State Herget title, and a fourth place finish at the Division 2 state championship.

Filed Under: Sports, Wellesley High School

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Wellesley High’s Thomas D’Anieri crowned as top Massachusetts boys cross country runner

November 21, 2015 by Bob Brown

Thomas D'Anieri cross country wellesley miaa all state meet westfield
D’Anieri emerged from a wooded section of the course with a big lead and cruised to the victory.

Wellesley High School senior Thomas D’Anieri on Saturday afternoon beat the field of 182 Division 1 runners to be crowned the state champ, the first WHS boys cross country runner to achieve that goal. He led the team, which went undefeated during its regular season and then won its conference and division championships, to a fifth place finish in the All State meet that took place at Stanley Park in Westfield. (MORE from the Boston Herald here.)

D’Anieri’s time of 15:16 was 11 seconds faster than the runner-up’s time.

Congrats to #Wellesley High senior Thomas D’Anieri (right), shown here with Coach Tim Broe, for winning Massachusetts All State Division 1 boys #crosscountry individual title at #westfield First ever #wellesleyhigh boy to do so #running #miaa #crosscountryrunning @tdanieri

A photo posted by theswellesleyreport (@theswellesleyreport) on Nov 21, 2015 at 12:31pm PST

Senior Eve Driver led the girls’s team, running at a 6:05 pace over the 5K course. The Raiders finished 11th of 19 teams.

Among those on hand to take in the action: Wellesley High Principal Jamie Chisum.

Up next for the runners: the Nike Cross Northeast in Wappingers Falls, NY on the Saturday following Thanksgiving.

Filed Under: Sports, Wellesley High School

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Wellesley Natural Resources Commission makes recommendation for vacant seat

November 4, 2022 by Bob Brown

The Wellesley Natural Resources Commission, after interviewing 7 candidates at its Thursday night meeting, recommended that Michael D’Ortenzio fill a vacant slot until March, when the seat will be up for election. The Select Board will hold a joint meeting with the NRC on Monday, Nov. 7 to vote on the matter.

Update: 11/7/22: D’Ortenzio was approved at joint NRC/Select Board meeting.

(To really get into the spirit, I actually listened to the Wellesley Media recording of the NRC Nov. 3 meeting while paddling on the Charles River and running around adjacent trails.)

NRC member Allison Burson recently moved out of town, leaving a seat vacant. The 5-member Commission’s stated mission is “to provide stewardship, education and advocacy of the Town of Wellesley park, conservation, and open space system.”

While the headline here is that the NRC made its recommendation, this is a meeting worth watching the recording of if you missed it live and have an interest in the town’s recreation and open space. We were reminded of how many great resources the town has in its residents, from those whose expertise comes from regularly using the trails and parks to those with careers in municipal law, forestry, science, and architecture. Themes that surfaced during the meeting included the challenges of competing interests, short-term vs. long-term goals, and the importance of data collection to inform decisions.

Having a window into live interviews is fascinating enough, but hearing the deliberation over candidates was enlightening, too. Some argued for experience, others for candidates that could offer boots-on-the ground support, and others for specific areas of knowledge that could help with current NRC work, such as related to the town’s tree canopy. The meeting delved into topics like the future of the North 40 and what to do about water quality, issues that the NRC has had less time to focus on this year than it might like in the face of time-consuming issues such as the high school track and field lights.

The NRC narrowly voted in favor of D’Ortenzio over Peter D’Anieri, who described himself as a forester.

D’Ortenzio has been active in Wellesley town government all the way back to his high school days, when he joined Town Meeting in 2010. He has served on the School Committee, Playing Fields Task Force, and what was then called the Sustainable Energy Committee. He now practices municipal law. During his initial comments to the NRC during the meeting (candidates had earlier replied to emailed questions), D’Ortenzio said: “[W]hen we think about Wellesley in decades to come, this is me speaking personally, I view success as upzoning already developed areas and downzoning and preserving that rare forest land that we have that’s intact still today. I think the NRC can lead on that… I think it’s both the greatest challenge and its greatest opportunity.”

It was his focus during the interviews on long-term planning balanced with current needs that won over some NRC members. Commissioner Lisa Collins said: “Long-range planning is the name of the game. A reactive approach to our town resources has not been serving us and will continue to not serve us well, and is the crux of so much of the frustration that happens among our commission, among the town, in the past, in the present, and in the future.”

D’Ortenzio said he would plan to run for a full term come the March election. Two NRC seats will be up for grabs, so it will be interesting to see if any of the other candidates who volunteered for the current vacancy decide to run then, too.


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Filed Under: Government, Outdoors

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Wellesley Natural Resources Commission to select new member at meeting

November 2, 2022 by Bob Brown

nrc logoThe Wellesley Natural Resources Commission, down a commissioner following the recent move out of state by 1 elected member, is slated to interview 8 candidates and select a new member at its Thursday, Nov. 3 meeting. The meeting starts at 6:30pm and you can watch it live on TV at Comcast 8 or Verizon 40, or by streaming it.

The 5-member Commission’s stated mission is “to provide stewardship, education and advocacy of the Town of Wellesley park, conservation, and open space system.”

The appointed replacement will serve until the next town election in March.

The candidates:

  • Jaden Crawford
  • Peter D’Anieri
  • Guy DeFeis
  • Michael D’Ortenzio
  • Wayne Everett
  • Trevor McProud
  • Erin Reilly
  • Bonnie Rosalen

Update 11/4/22: Rosalen dropped out before the NRC’s recommendation meeting.


Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

Filed Under: Environment, Government

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Wellesley Turkey Trot gets Thanksgiving Day off to fast start

November 23, 2017 by Bob Brown

wellesley turkey trotWith temps in the high 20s/low 30s at the start of this Thanksgiving Day’s Wellesley Turkey Trot, it took a mile or so for many a runner’s legs to warm up. But a bright sunny sky and enthusiastic family-filled crowd generated a warm atmosphere to start the holiday at this annual fundraiser that raises gobbles of money for local organizations.

Recent Wellesley and Needham high school running stars dominated the top race results, while the rest of us shuffled along in hopes of burning off a few calories in advance of our Thanksgiving feasts.

wellesley turkey trot

wellesley turkey trot 2017
Wellesley police kept law & order at the race

 

wellesley turkey trot 2017
Ex-WHS runners Thomas D’Anieri and Ben Matekja & Needham High grad John Benner, finished 1-2-3 in the race

 

A post shared by theswellesleyreport (@theswellesleyreport) on Nov 23, 2017 at 4:08pm PST

MORE photos…. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Charity/Fundraising, Outdoors

Wellesley High track & field has All-American weekend at Nationals

June 19, 2016 by Bob Brown

Nearly 20 Wellesley High student-athletes headed down by plane or car to the New Balance Nationals in Greensboro, NC, and a handful will return to town as All-Americans.

WHS athletes competed in a variety of relay and individual events (shown below, Jojo Kennedy getting the girls’ 4×200 team off to a fast start, and Ryan Parker handing off to Graham Harris in the 1600 boys sprint medley).

#Wellesley High 4×200 relay #nbnationals2016 @newbalanceus #trackandfield #greensboronc @ncattrackfield

A video posted by theswellesleyreport (@theswellesleyreport) on Jun 19, 2016 at 1:23pm PDT

Wellesley High Sprint medley

New WHS graduate Thomas D’Anieri doubled up on All-American honors by finishing third in the Championship 2-Mile race on Saturday night, then coming back Sunday morning to help the 4 x 1 Mile team to a 6th place finish in a time of 17:31 (New Balance designates the top 6 finishers in championship events as All-Americans). Joining D’Anieri on that relay team — which averaged a sizzling 4:23 per mile — were his twin brother Matt, as well as rising WHS seniors Ben Matejka and Sam Gilman. The same foursome set a state record in the indoor version of this event earlier this year.

D’Anieri’s 9:05 time in the 2-mile race broke a 42-year-old WHS record of 9:11.4 set by Mark Murray and ranks #13 all-time in Massachusetts high school outdoor 2-mile times.

One of D’Anieri’s secrets to success: Hanging loose in this portable hammock before races.d'anieri hammock at nationals

The highlight among the girls participating was freshman Julia Jordahl-Henry’s 6th place finish in Saturday’s emerging elite high jump competition, in which she set a Wellesley High record at 5 feet 7.75 inches, and earned herself an invitation to the championship event the next day. Jordahl-Henry’s highest jump of the day prompted her mom to flop over backwards onto the grass in joy (I wasn’t quick enough on the camera shutter to capture that, but I did give her a hand getting back on her feet).

Julia Jordahl-Henry jump at NB Nationals June 2016
Jordahl-Henry’s medal winning jump

Julia Jordahl-Henry jump at NB Nationals June 2016

Julia Jordahl-Henry jump at NB Nationals June 2016

Julia Jordahl-Henry jump at NB Nationals June 2016

Swellesley’s favorite non-WHS runner and neighbor, Natick High freshman Grace Connolly, also wowed the crowd by winning the freshman mile race in just over 5 minutes.

And just to make spectators feel even slower, the best male and female race walkers (something you don’t see at Massachusetts track meets) circled the track four times in less than 7 minutes.

race walking

For track geeks in the crowd, you can relive the event via videos on the NB site.

The event itself was part of high school track’s busiest weekend, with the Brooks PR invitational on the west coast and the Adidas Boston Boost Games in Somerville/Boston also taking place.

In North Carolina, the Wellesley High students coped well with temperatures in the 80s and 90s, buoyed by the great competition and overall spirit of the event, kept lively throughout with pulsating music and excitement over coming away with coveted black-and-orange backpacks.

New Balance Nationals #trackandfield #nbnationals2016 #Wellesley #greensboronc

A video posted by theswellesleyreport (@theswellesleyreport) on Jun 19, 2016 at 1:28pm PDT

Filed Under: Sports, Wellesley High School

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