High School Track: Hurdlers Volquez and Duren, Caraballo and Bard led dazzling spring track campaign

Jun. 26—At first glance, the two men in the photo could not have seemed more different.

On the left, stood Jordany Volquez, then a Lawrence High junior in the photo from last spring, in the midst of establishing himself as one of the top 110-meter hurdlers in the United States, and in the history of the Eagle-Tribune area.

On the right, there was veteran Eagle-Tribune sportswriter Michael Muldoon, more than 40 years older, feverishly scribbling notes from his interview with Volquez into a reporter's notebook. Muldoon didn't use a recorder, let alone an iPhone for interviews. He was old school.

As different as they may have seemed, Division 1 college track recruit Volquez and Muldoon shared one major trait — a passionate love for track and field.

When Muldoon passed away in May, shortly after turning 60, Volquez shared the photo of the two on his Twitter page, with the caption "Wow man great person RIP @MullyET"

Volquez — who Muldoon named Eagle-Tribune boys indoor track MVP less than a month before his passing — was one of the countless track athletes whose lives Muldoon touched in his 35-year career at the Eagle-Tribune.

Mike loved track. Above all other sports — including football and basketball, baseball and hockey — track was a passion for Muldoon. He loved the statistics ("the stopwatch doesn't lie"), and when records were broken. You were either faster or you weren't, you could either throw further or you couldn't — no reason for debate and he tracked those stats for decades.

It's a shame Muldoon missed the 2022 spring high school track season, because he would have loved it.

It was a spring that saw Volquez once again dominate hurdles and set a record as a sprinter, and Central Catholic's Janessa Duren of Haverhill join her sister as one of the top girls hurdlers in region history.

A quartet of North Andover distance runners — Camden Reiland, Ryan Connolly, Ronan McGarry and Jack Determan — twice became All-Americans with a pair of brilliant relay finishes at New Balance Nationals.

Pinkerton's Briana Danis continued her climb up the all-time area leaders as a thrower, and North Andover's Jenna Bard showed a tremendous ability to dominate in all three throwing events.

Oh, and never doubt Methuen's Miana Caraballo. She just kept surprising opponents.

Here's a look at some of the top moments and performances from the 2022 spring track season:

TOP MOMENTS

Performance of the Year, Boys Track (tie) — At New Balance Nationals, North Andover's Reiland, Connolly, McGarry and Determan scored a stunning pair of All-American performances. They took second in the 4x800 in 7:46.72 and third in the 4xmile in 17:33.79 in back-to-back days. Both set Eagle-Tribune area records.

Performance of the Year, Boys Track (tie) — Lawrence's Volquez set a new Eagle-Tribune area record in the 200-meter dash (21.18), winning the event, and added a win in the 110 hurdles (14.18) to dominate the MIAA Division 1 Meet. A week later he ran a PR in the hurdles (13.94, second best in area history) at All-States.

Performance of the Year, Girls Track — Central's Duren truly ruled the hurdles at the MIAA Division 2 Meet. On Day 1, she won the 400 hurdles in a school-record 1:04.81. Two days later, she added the 100 hurdles crown in 14.77. This marked a performance her big sister, former Eagle-Tribune MVP Kat Duren, now a D1 college star, never pulled off.

Pinkerton's Jordan Wheaton nearly matched Duren's feat at the New Hampshire Division 1 meet, winning the 100 hurdles (14.84), and taking third in the 300 hurdles (47.45). She was also second in the high jump (5-2).

Performance of the Year, Girls Field — The throwing versatility North Andover's Bard was on record-setting display at the Merrimack Valley Conference Meet. Bard won the shot put (42-11), javelin (114-06) and discus (116-10), becoming the first athlete ever — male or female — to sweep the throwing events at MVCs.

Performance of the Year, Boys Field — The Andover pole vaulters dominated Division 1 states. Chris Worthley (12-6) was the winner, followed by Tyler Drummey (12-6) in third and Ryan Swanson (12-0) in sixth. Worthley also won the MVC title.

OTHER TOP ACHIEVERS

It's hard to believe that Briana Danis has another season to compete for Pinkerton. The Eagle-Tribune All-Star senior-to-be won the discus with a throw of 124-9, and placed second in the shot put (37-7) at the New Hampshire Meet of Champions. Danis already owns the second best discus throw in area history (133-8 at Merrimack Invitational).

As a junior this spring, Central Catholic's Ethan Pater was fifth in the 200-meter dash at New Englands (22.22) and was second in the 100 dash (11.08) at the Division 2 meet. He also ran on the 4x100 relay that took first at Andover Boosters.

Pater was also a member of the Central Catholic 4x400 relay that placed third at All-States (school-record 3:20.77) and New Englands (3:21.52). He was joined on the relay by Aden Pemble, Patrick Walsh and Kaiden Nobrega.

Pemble added a second in the 110 hurdles at Meet of Champions (PR 55.85).

Andover High junior Colin Kirn also made a big leap this season, winning the 800-meter at Andover Boosters (1:58.53) and taking third at D1s (1:58.83).

And Methuen's Miana Caraballo always seemed to exceed expectations. Seeded 16th in the 2-mile going into All-States, Caraballo surged to a third-place finish in a school-record 10:55.11. That was two weeks after she was the No. 6 seed at MVCs, and walked away the champion (11:16.39).

THEY HAVE NEXT

There are plenty of exciting up-and-comers that should take it to a new level in 2023. Here are three.

Salem senior-to-be David Jacques had a breakout day on the track when he placed second in the 110 hurdles in 15.28 at the New Hampshire Meet of Champions. That a week after he placed sixth at Meet of Champions. He should also be a go-to running back for the Blue Devils football team in the fall.

Just a freshman, Central Catholic's Suuna Kalemera delivered an outstanding debut season: He won the long jump (21-5) at the elite Andover Boosters Meet, then took the MIAA Division 2 pentathlon title with a combined score of 2,815. Who knows what he will accomplish in three more high school seasons.

Andover's Tam Gavenas overcame COVID-19 this spring to have a huge weekend at New Balance Nationals last week.

The Phillips Academy sophomore-to-be won the freshman 2-mile (9:34.05), was third in the freshman mile (4:26.42) and 14th in the freshman 800 (2:04.30) at Nationals. He was the top freshman in Massachusetts in all three events.

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