LYNNFIELD — Without an indoor track facility or field house, the indoor track program at Lynnfield High has always had to make the most of things. The teams fly under the radar, practicing most days in the basement of the building. When it’s warm enough (as in, anything 35 degrees or more), the kids head on over to the middle school for practice.

Despite the limited conditions, the only thing you can really say is, this year, both teams have attained success, particularly the boys, who may not only be the best-kept secret around, but the best small team you’ve never heard of when it comes to Lynnfield indoor track.

The boys team has already shattered seven school records. And with Wednesday’s MIAA Division 5 Championship meet, the MIAA Meet of Champions (Feb. 24) and the MSTCA Boys Indoor Individual Pentathlon (Feb. 27) still on the docket, the sky may be the limit.

“I’d have to go way back – seven years – to my first year of coaching here when Davide Pittilini and Nick Kinnon were breaking records, but it’s not like this,” said head coach Christine Smith. “It’s just incredible what these kids are doing and we still have three more meets to go, so who knows how many more records they might set?”

The story begins with junior Eli Mendese. Mendese ran outdoor track in the spring and played basketball the last two years, but this winter, decided to switch sports and try track. To say he made a great choice might be the understatement of the century.

Despite being brand new to the indoor scene, Mendese wasted no time turning heads and breaking records – five, to be exact.

On Dec. 28, he set a new mark in the pentathlon (2,437 points) at the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Distance Classic and Pentathlon. Less than a month later on Jan. 23, he broke the school high jump record with a leap of 6-0 during a Cape Ann League dual meet against Amesbury. 

A week later, junior teammate Ethan Francis got in on the action during a dual meet against Manchester-Essex with a new record in the high jump (6-0), a height later matched by Mendese on Feb. 6 at the CAL Championship meet, where Mendese added a second record: 20-06 in the long jump.

“He (Mendese) is very dedicated and driven,” Smith said. “He wants to do well and wants the team to do well. It’s wonderful to see. Eli has more than exceeded my expectations this year and I’m very proud of his performances and records he has broken this year.”

Mendese and Francis, along with another rookie in junior Dillon Reilly, also set a new record in the 3x high jump (17-04) earlier this year.

The Pioneers also have broken three relay records in 2024. Junior Jesse Dorman (also a first-year runner), junior Charlie Morgan, Reilly, and senior captain Joey Cucciniello broke the records in the 4×200 relay (1:36.27) and shuttle relay (23.79). Junior captain Davius Chan, senior Nick Groussis, Francis and Mendese also set a new record in the shuttle hurdles (23.79).

While Dorman has three indoor seasons under his belt, this is his first year as a member of the 4×200 team.

“It’s new to me, but we’ve had a really great season so far,” he said. “We just barely missed our school record by less than a second at the CAL championship meet, so we are hoping to crush it at states.”

Morgan said he thought all four members of the 4×200 team ran strong legs.

“I thought it was a good race and we all ran pretty well,” Morgan said. “Joey and Jesse ran it really, really fast. We had good handoffs and Dillon really flew on the third leg.”

“I thought our 4×200 team did really well,” Cucciniello said. “It’s good to see that our times keep progressively getting better. At the beginning of the season, we were stuck with some injuries, so it took a little bit to get on track, but now I’m happy we are coming off those injuries healthy and are crushing it.”

Truth be told, Morgan and Reilly know a thing or two about winning. They were captains of the Pioneers’ boys soccer team that won the Division 3 state championship last fall. Morgan has been bugging Reilly – for two years – to give indoor track a try. It seems Reilly finally got the message.

“I think it’s awesome that we are running together,” Morgan said. “I’ve been doing indoor track since my freshman year and have spent the last two years trying to convince him to run, and it finally worked.  I’m really glad to have him on the team. He really contributes to the team and it’s such a good time.”

When asked if there was an ‘I told you so’ moment, Morgan flashed a big smile.

“Of course there was. You can bet on that,” he said. “As you can see, he has obviously made us all a lot better.”