Before the Bay State Conference Track Championship meet yesterday afternoon, Norwood High School coach Fred Richardson was deeply worried that his team wasn’t in the right frame of mind. “During the bus ride over here, I didn’t think the boys were up for it,” he commented. However, by the time the final events concluded at the Needham High School field, Richardson was happily surprised. His defending champion Nuggets easily captured the meet title with a dominant 44-point total, securing five first-place finishes and cementing their status as league champions.
“I was really surprised that we won this easily,” Richardson remarked. “However, anything can happen in a meet such as this one.” The victory vindicated his philosophy; just last year, Norwood had finished third in the league overall but managed to squeeze out a narrow win in the championship meet. Yesterday, it became obvious that the Nuggets had secured the top spot as soon as the earliest event results trickled in. In addition to their five individual victories, the team steadily gathered a critical volume of second and third-place finishes across the board. “Yes, those seconds and thirds were wonderful,” Richardson stated with a smile. “The boys all did their jobs.”
The nearest challenger to Norwood’s 44 points was host school Needham at 25.5 points, followed closely by Dedham at 24.5 points and Natick at 20.
The Nuggets found their single field event victory in the javelin throw, where John Pesta uncorked a winning throw of 156 feet, 4 inches. Team member John Lindbloom backed up the event with a fourth-place finish. In the shot put, Steve Pazniokas set a brand new school record by throwing over 50 feet, securing a second-place finish behind Natick’s Jeff Fitzgerald. In other field execution, Effertz earned a second-place finish in the high jump, while Nachardo and Stephanson claimed second and fourth places respectively in the discus.
It was the running events, however, in which Norwood completely excelled, sweeping four distinct victories on the track. Joe Maloney captured the 440-yard run with a blistering time of 51.7 seconds, while teammate Dave Devine—who typically runs the 880—provided a crucial surprise by taking third place in the same event. In the 880-yard run itself, Brad Ritchie streaked across the finish line ahead of the pack in exactly 2:00. Mike Snellgrove effortlessly won the grueling two-mile run, seizing an early lead and dominating the field throughout to finish in 10:11.5, while teammate Bedar earned a strong third place.
The sprint squad added to the points haul in the 100-yard dash, where Jim Robertson and Brissette finished third and fourth behind winner Geoff Smith of Framingham North. The Norwood relay team—composed of Jim Robertson, Jim Donovan, Dave Lennox, and anchor Maloney—locked down an absolute first-place victory in the event with a time of 1:34.2. Sullivan added a final track point to the Nuggets’ championship banner by finishing third in the high hurdles. The official team trophy was presented to the Norwood squad directly following the close of the meet.
Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger
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