Ricci Leads Stoughton High at MSTCA Decathlon

Jordan Ricci, Patrick Claude, Andrew Valle and Matt Mack represented the Stoughton High boys’ track team at the two-day MSTCA boys’ decathlon, held at Bishop Feehan Monday and Tuesday of this week, where the athletes competed in three throwing events, three jumping events, a hurdles race, a dash, a 400-meter race and the metric mile.

Ricci, a senior, led the Stoughton quartet at the decathlon, in what was his final high school track meet. Boys’ track coach Harvey Blonder said Ricci improved his point total from last year by more than 700, en route to a 17th place finish this year, which earned him a coveted commemorative t-shirt.

Ricci entered the last event, the 1500-meter run, in 22nd place overall, but ran what Blonder called a “brilliant race,” coming in 12th and shattering his personal best by almost 30 seconds, propelling him to a top-20 finish overall in the decathlon.

Blonder said Stoughton’s other three participants also recorded personal bests throughout the meet.

Claude had personal bests in the shot put (34'10") and triple jump (36'11"); Valle had a personal best in the javelin (126'2") and hurdles (18.78 seconds); and Matt Mack had his best showing in the 400-meter (57.03 seconds) and long jump event (17'6").