The regular season is over for Rocket winter athletes. Here is what you need to know about their post-season schedules and performances.
Boys and Girls Hockey State Tournament:
Tonight, the Reading boys hockey team, with a record of 15-5-1, starts the Division 1 playoffs at home at the Burbank Ice Arena. In this round of 32 at home, the Rockets, seeded 7th, are playing against Bishop Feehan, seeded 26th, who have a record of 9-13-0. Make sure to get to Burbank early to purchase your tickets, there will be a line. The theme is blackout. Follow their bracket here.
The Reading girls ice hockey (D1) team is also playing against Bishop Feehan in the round of 32, however, it is an away game for the girls team. The puck drops for the girls on Thursday, February 29, at 8:30 pm, at the New England Sports Village, North Attleboro. The Reading girls are seeded 23rd with a record of 9-10-1, while Bishop Feehan is seeded 10th with a record of 10-9-3. Follow their bracket here.
Boys and Girls Basketball State Tournament:
The boys and girls basketball teams will play a home double-header this Thursday (2/29), starting at 6:00.
In the Division II Preliminary Round, the boys, seeded 27th with a record of 15-7, are playing against Middleborough, the 38th seed with a record of 12-8. The game will be held at the Hawkes Field House on Thursday at 6pm. The winner will advance to play against Hopkinton in the round of 32. As usual, throughout the game, NuImage Entertainment will keep the audience entertained. Follow the boys bracket here.
Following the boys game, the girls team will take the court. They are seeded 15th in Division II with a record of 14-6. They received a bye in the preliminaries, and will face Pembroke, the 18th seed (13-7), in the Round of 32 on Thursday at 7:30 pm. Follow the girls bracket here.
Boys and girls Track Meet of Champions recap:
The Boys and Girls winter track teams just competed in the prestigious Meet of Champions this past weekend (2/24) at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center. In order to qualify for this meet, you needed to get first place at your divisional meet or be in the next fastest 24 times across all divisions.
Kamryn Encarnacao (’26) competed in two events for the girls team, placing 20th in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.48 and 23rd in the long jump with a jump of 15-08.25. Katie Caraco (’24), the girls team captain, competed in three events, earning 21st place in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 9.22, 15th place in the long jump and securing second place in the high jump with a height of 5-06.00, which qualified her for both the New England Meet and New Balance Nationals. The girls then capped off their meet with the 4x200m, running a time of 1:49.30, earning them a place of 15th. The team was composed of Antonia Zagami (’24), Katherine Savio (’26), Carissa Carciero (’24), and Kamryn Encarnacao (’26).
On the boy’s side, Will Hughes (’24) just barely missed the difficult opening height of 6-02.00. The 4x800m team composed of Brian Ronayne (’24), Tim Connolly (’26), Graham Goodwin (’24), and Chris Barbato (’25) ran a time of 8:09.75, resulting in a 6th place finish. This is the second time that this 4×8 team has been within one second of the RMHS school record of 8:09.10. To conclude the meet, the boys 4×4 team composed of Nick Austin (’24), Liam Hannabury (‘;24), Nick Belous (’24), and Mark Malley (’24) ran a time of 3:32.08, earning them a place of 11th.
Division 1 Swimming meet recap:
At the 2024 MIAA Winter Boys State Division 1 swim meet held at the Melrose YMCA, the boys swim team placed 39th out of 42 teams, with a total score of 5 points. Aidan Herlihy (’26) swam a time of 5:14.08 in the boys 500-yard freestyle, resulting in a place of 17th. Andrew McCarthy (’25) swam a time of 1:03.15 in the 100-yard Backstroke, earning him a place of 13th and 4 points for the team. In the same event, Liam Green (’25) swam a time of 1:03.54, earning him one point. Lastly, the team competed in the 400m freestyle relay, where they placed 22nd in a time of 3:31.37. The team was composed of Aidan Herlihy (’26), Andrew McCarthy (’25), Rory O’Neill (’25), and Liam Green (’25).
Division 2 Wrestling tournament recap:
Reading placed 40th in the MIAA Division D2 state tournament with a score of 11 points. They had a total of three athletes compete. William Merkle (’26) competed in the 144-pound weight class, Justin Gatta (’25) competed in the 126-pound weight class, and Luke Waldman (’25) competed in the 157-pound weight class. All three finished in the top four of their respective brackets at the D2 North tournament to earn the right to participate in the D2 states.
Gymnastics Sectionals recap:
RMHS gymnastics wrapped up their 2023-2024 season with a 5th place finish at North Sectionals. They earned a total of 139.075 points, with scores of 35.200 in the vault, 31.350 in the uneven bars, 36.100 in the balance beam, and 36.425 on the floor.
