Salem Unified Sports

Salem Unified Track and Field was honored to be part of today’s Championship Rally as our community celebrated championships across athletics and the performing arts! Our 2026 State Champions rode through the City on the Salem Trolley, and ended the morning back in the Field House to hear from the Champions themselves!

We are so thankful to be part of a school community committed to inclusion, celebration, and joy!

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, SALEM IS BRINGING HOME FIVE INDIVIDUAL STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS! 🏆

LET’S GIVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR OUR 2026 MIAA UNIFIED TRACK & FIELD STATE CHAMPIONS:

Mara Laskowski: D1-1 Javelin 🥇
Nile McManus: D1-10 100M, D1-7 Long Jump 🥇🥇
Erik Shehaj: D1-6 Javelin 🥇
Marisabel Diaz: D1-1 Shot Put 🥇

We are so incredibly proud of our athletes for competing hard and bringing home some Championship hardware today!

2026 UNIFIED TRACK & FIELD STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS SEND-OFF! 🔴🏆⚫️

Salem Unified Track and Field is thrilled to share that 25 students have qualified for the 2026 MIAA Unified Track and Field State Championships at Natick High School:

- Alany Ortiz (100M)
- Alex Done (100M)
- Charlotte Leyendecker (100M, Javelin)
- Erik Sjehaj (100M, Javelin, 4x100 relay)
- Gianmarcos Jimenez (Shot Put)
- Harley Ferrara-Brown (100M, Long Jump)
- Henry Beauparlant (100M, Long Jump, 4x100 relay)
- Ivan Santiago (Shot Put)
- Jayden Lopez (Javelin, 4x100 relay)
- Jitu Ahmed (100M)
- Jonathan Cote (100M, Shot Put)
- Mara Laskowski (100M, Javelin)
- Marisabel Diaz (100M, Shot Put)
- Mikey Kennedy (Javelin)
- Polly Babineau (100M, Javelin)
- Ryan Burnett (100M)
- Sophia Vargas (100M, Javelin)
- Nile McManus (100M, Long Jump, 4x100 relay)
- Yaviel Gonzalez (100M)
- Elijah Sneed (Javelin)
- Angie Iglesias (Javelin)
- Denisse Manon Fortunato (Shot Put)
- Anson Froeschl (Javelin)
- Phil Wright (100M)
- Amaya Lindor (Javelin)

This is the largest number of athletes we have ever qualified for the State Championships! We look forward to competing on May 27 as we seek to bring home some Championship hardware!

We want to give a HUGE shoutout to our 73 student volunteers who helped run Unified Game Day this week! From running stations to supporting individual students, we are so proud of our commitment to inclusive youth leadership, and we’re thrilled to see students with & without disabilities partner together to foster inclusive opportunities across Salem Public Schools & beyond!

SALEM PUBLIC SCHOOLS UNIFIED GAME DAY 2026 🏆🎉

We were thrilled to host our 6th-annual Unified Game Day today at Bertram Field! What an amazing day celebrating inclusion & participating in events with students from Carlton, Bates, Witchcraft Heights, Horace Mann, Collins, & Salem High.

Our athletes participated with both passion and joy, showing us a glimpse of just how beautiful this Unified Generation can be! We love celebrating inclusion throughout Salem Public Schools! ❤️

The Salem Unified Track and Field team placed second at the Division 1 North Sectional Meet, earning 260 points! Our Witches showed out with 12 athletes placing first in their respective heats and 7 athletes earning individual Sectional Championships. 2024 State D1-2 100M Champion Alex Done led the way for the Witches, taking home first in both the D1-2 100M and the D1-3 Javelin. Senior Amaya Lindor placed first in the D1-4 Javelin and Sophomore Giancarlo Martinez Vargas also placed first in the D1-4 Shot Put in their first ever appearances at Sectionals. Senior Anson Froeschl sped to a first place finish in the D1-9 100M and postgrad Jayden Lopez shattered his personal and program record in the D1-1 800M, running to a 2:58.36 first place finish. Freshman Alany Ortiz also made her sectionals debut, earning first in the D1-2 Long Jump, while postgrad Damien Smith set a new personal record, running the D1-7 100M race in 15.52 seconds. Salem’s 4x100 team (Jayden Lopez, Nile McManus, Henry Beauparlant, and Erik Shehaj) also set a new program record, sprinting to a 55.23 second finish and earning first as well!

2026 UNIFIED TRACK & FIELD NORTH SECTIONALS, HERE WE COME! ⚫️🏆🔴

Salem Unified Track competed at Marblehead on Tuesday. Post-grad Jayden Lopez set a new program record in the 800M, running 3:13.82. Senior Mara Laskowski ran her season best 22.48 in the 100M, while freshman Marisabel Diaz set a new personal best in the 100M at 35.15. Sophomore Branon Fernandes threw his personal high in the Javelin at 20-7 feet and post-grad Angie Iglesias tied her personal best in the shot put, throwing 12-3 feet. Senior Gianmarcos continued his growth in the 400M, breaking his personal best by running 1:13.61. Our 4x100 team (Jayden Lopez, Nile McManus, Henry Beauparlant, and Erik Shehaj) also set a new program record, sprinting to a 56.48 finish.

On Friday, we had the opportunity to take a field trip with our Unified PE class to Gordon College’s La Vida Adventure Pursuits! Our students enjoyed participating in a variety of team building activities and absolutely loved swinging high in the Flying Squirrel too!

We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day to get outside and try new activities together!

We want to say a special thank you to the Salem Education Foundation for their generous grant that funded this incredible opportunity for our students!