Despite the meet being pushed back to Monday, since the USATF Indoor T&F Championships took place in the same facility this past weekend, the MIAA All-State Meet provided some Monday night heat in the chilly Northeast!
MIAA Top Performances- Emily Jones (MA) runs 10:30.41 for two-miles, new U.S.#1- Emily Mepham (MA) runs 2:53.09 for 1000m, U.S. #5 - Ryad Bencheikh (MA) wins boys 600m in 1:21.93- Hanna Muir (MA) jumps 5-07 in the high jump, U.S. top ten- Reading beats Woburn in boys 4x2, 1:30.56-1:30.58MIAA All-State Meet (MA)
Reggie Lewis T&F Complex, Boston, MA
MIAA All-State Meet Results: Boys / Girls
Boys Summary
What a night it was at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, MA. The top athletes in Massachusetts squared off at their indoor all-state meet, and their performances kick the week off properly.
The top performance of the evening in many eyes came from Ryad Bencheikh (Jr., Woburn). The senior speedster ran under 1:22 for 600m once again, this time winning the event with a great time of 1:21.93. While this leaves Bencheikh one second off his season PR, it was still a U.S. top 15 performance.
Perhaps the best open track race came in the mile, where Omar Aden (Jr., Charlestown) and Chris Brown (Sr., Chelmsford) battled all the way to the line, with Aden winning in the closest of margins. Aden won in a strong time of 4:19.12, nipping Brown, who finished in the runner-up spot with his 4:19.20 performance. Their marks were season PR's for both athletes, as they continue to rank in the U.S. top thirty.
A handful of relay performances stole the show. The 4x200m pit Reading and Woburn head to head once again this indoor season. These two teams battled all the way to the line, with Reading's Ian O'Shea outleaning Woburn's Matt Pereira 1:30.56-1:30.58, setting a meet record in the process.
The 4x400m relay impressed as well, with Woburn making up for their narrow 4x2 loss by winning the event. The relay squad set a meet record with their winning time of 3:22.47, outdistancing second place Belmont, who finished in 3:23.89.
The top performances in the field events came in the high jump and shot put. Andrew Powell (Sr., St. John's) lept 6-07 to win the high jump, while Mansfield teammates Mike McPherson (Sr.) and Dan Glavin (Jr.) finished 1-2 in the shot put and only a half inch apart. McPherson threw 56-09.5 to Glavin's 56-09.
Girls Summary
While the boys field certainly impressed, a trio of girls performances will soak up the most national acclaim. The top performance came from Emily Jones (Jr., Bromfield), who currently ranked U.S. #1 for two-miles heading into the meet and only improved upon her time in the competition. Jones won her specialty event by 37.5 seconds, running a new U.S. #1 time of 10:30.41.
While Jones' mark was the only U.S. #1 mark set on the evening, Emily Mepham (Sr., Lincoln-Sudbury) and Carolyn Ranti (Jr., Newton North) earned themselves U.S. top ten rankings with their fine performances in the 1000m dash. Mepham won the event in a U.S. #5 time of 2:53.09, while Ranti finished close in 2:54.27 for second place.
The third best performance of the night came from Hanna Muir (Jr., Wellesley). The junior lept 5-07 to win the high jump and earn herself a U.S. top ten ranking. Meanwhile, Meg Looney (Sr., Bishop Feehan) continued her dominance in the 600m, winning the event by 2.5 seconds in a great finishing time of 1:34.35.
In the relays, two new meet records were set, while the 4x200m provided one heck of a finish. The Lincoln-Sudbury squad lost the 4x800m relay to Newton South, who won the event in a meet record of 9:23.67, but came back i nthe 4x400m relay to break the meet record and finish in 3:59.69.
In the 4x200m relay, North Attleboro held off strong surges from Andover and Hingham to win the event in 1:45.67. The race was nearly a photo finish however, as Andover finished only .04 off in 1:45.71, while Hingham finished third in 1:45.89.