BHS track team breaking records

By Paul Hogan
Taranto broke two records, the mile and the 1,000 meters. The mile record-holder from 1982, Kevin Sullivan, now in his forties, was there at the MIAA Division 3 Championships in February outside of the track to shake Taranto’s hand.


“It was cool because it was like passing a torch,” Taranto said.

While racing, Taranto always checks his time per lap and does the math in his head to see if he needs to speed up. That was definitely the case for the mile in February, when he led most of the race, having to set the pace.

“I knew each record was in my reach and I just worked everyday and I think it really paid off in the end,” Taranto said. He broke the 1000-meter record set in 2006 by Matt Tirrell, beating Tirrell’s time of 2:36.76 by .54 seconds.

Coach Carr predicts Taranto will beat every distance record by the end of his high school career.

Relay teams also shined this year. The 4 x 800 team of Gideon Kasirye, Trevor Dutton, Christos Saledas and David Taranto set a new record of 8:14.89. The Distance Medley, run once a year at the Division 3 championships, saw another record with runners Kasirye, Taranto, Dutton and David Perloff clocking in at 11:04.21.

Kasirye ran a blazing 1:26 in February, to beat the original 600-meter record of 1:27.

“I felt like it was the greatest accomplishment I have ever gotten in my entire sports career,” Kasirye said.

In a middle distance like the 600-meters, running is mainly mental due to the pain of running a fast sprint for a long period of time. Gideon was able to endure the pain while racing against the best 600-meter runners in the Middlesex League, including the towns of Belmont, Lexington, Woburn, Reading, Stoneham, Melrose, Watertown, and Winchester.

“When I was running I wasn’t really thinking of the school record but I was trying to beat as many kids as I could,” Gideon said.

Gabe Arcaro walks away from Providence, Rhode Island as the first and only school record holder in the weight throw. It was the first year Burlington competed in weight throw, a rare event in Massachusetts.

Gabe, a freshman, has trained for years in the weight and hammer throws with his father, a coach at Tufts. He made it to nationals, and with three years ahead of him, he has his sights on more records, in shot put and discus. “I’m out for the rest of them,” he said.

This is not going to be the last of it. The Track team is full of juniors, so most of these stars are coming back. “Next year is going to be better. Trust me it is,” senior sprinter Jeff Sanjay said.