WESTFIELD – Westfield High School senior Gabriel Piepergerdes helped the boys’ basketball team regain its lofty status among Western Massachusetts’ elite teams this past winter. By making strides to become the area’s best all-around outdoor track and field athlete, he topped even his own high standards.
Piepergerdes soared past the competition by leaps and bounds to become the Central-West Division 1 boys’ outdoor pentathlon champion two weeks ago. He was first in three portions of the five-part challenge – long jump, high jump, and 1500 meter run.
When put to the task against the rest of the state’s top track and field athletes, Piepergerdes rose to the challenge again.
Westfield High’s Gabe Piepergerdes, center, stands alongside track and field coaches Linda Rowbotham, left, and Steve Talbot, right, at the All-State pentathlon at Notre Dame Academy. Piepergerdes followed up a first-place finish the week prior, with another top three finish, nabbing the bronze. (Submitted photo)
The Westfield senior claimed third in the pentathlon at last weekend’s championships at Notre Dame Academy in Hingham. Piepergerdes compiled 3,159 points, finishing just behind Old Rochester’s Danny Renwick (3,592 points) and North Attleboro’s Matt Tarantino (3,197).
Piepergerdes won the 1500-meter dash in 4:20.58, took fourth in the high jump (5-9.75) and long jump (19-7.5), finished seventh in 110-meter hurdles (16.22), and placed 10th in the shot put (31-4).
“I can’t thank my coaches – coach (Ben) Hatch, (Linda) Rowbotham, and (Steve) Talbot – (enough) for believing in me, for what they have done for me, and for what they have pushed me to do,” Piepergerdes said. “I wouldn’t be in the position I currently am without them. They showed me that I had more talent than just running the mile.”
Westfield’s Gabe Piepergerdes begins his postseason journey with this high jump at the Central-West Division 1 outdoor track and field championships at Holyoke High School’s Roberts Field. (Photo by Chris Putz)
After participating in the MSTCA Decathlon (Day One was Monday; Day Two, Wednesday), Piepergerdes will compete in the New England’s at Norwell on Saturday in the 4×400 relay with teammates Brendan LaForest, Sam Winiarski, and Ryan Prenosil. If the Bombers can run a 3:23.5 or faster in that race, they will qualify for the New Balance Nationals.
Prenosil recorded an eighth-place time (1:56.27) in the boys’ 800 meters at All-States. Moira McDonald placed 17th (59.92) in the 400-meter dash.
COURT-ING SUCCESS: Piepergerdes was instrumental in helping fuel the Westfield boys’ basketball team’s run this past winter, averaging 11.5 points per game. The Bombers rebounded from a 4-8 start, winning six of their final eight games – including a key win over No. 2 Amherst.
The senior All-Star and his team managed a first-round playoff victory over Agawam before losing to Western Massachusetts champ Central.
ROAD TO VICTORY: For Piepergerdes, the school year began with four regular season victories on the cross-country circuit. At PVIAC’s at Stanley Park, the senior track star ran a personal best 16:46, good for 12th overall. He leapt up two spots at Western Mass., finishing 10th (16:57).
