Needham- On a cold and rainy Tuesday, two track powerhouses from the Bay State Conference competed at DeFazio Field in Needham. The rivalry between the Newton North Tigers and the Needham Rockets reached a new height last outdoor season, when the Needham boys handed North their first defeat in years--this season, both teams were out once again to prove their superiority.
In the end, the Tiger boys secured the victory 80 to 47, and the Newton girls were also victorious by a similar margin. There were many great races and amazing performances from both genders; here are the most impressive.
Right at the start, the Tiger boys showed their dominance in the field events by taking first place in the high jump and triple jump, as well as sweeping the top three places in the shot put. Elmer Acuna, the Massachusetts and New England champion from the indoor season, threw 52' 5'' to set a new outdoor PR and win by almost four feet.
In a thrilling 100m dash, sophomore star Davonte Burnett of Needham edged out Miguel Oyler-Castillo by just .4, winning 11.04 to 11.44. Burnett also smoked the field in the 200 with a winning time of 22.64.
Needham struggled slightly in the middle distance events with their top 400/800 runner, Will Ashenfelter, not running due to a quad injury. Alex Rus of Newton won the 400 in 50.8, and in the 800, Siddharth Nizamuddin surged past Needham's Kevin Quinn in the final 50 meters, winning 2:03.2 to 2:03.9. Quinn had led the whole race up until then, including taking the field through the first lap in 60 seconds flat. Freshman Theo Burba of Newton took third with a PR of 2:04.1.
The boys' mile resembled a cross-country race as forty athletes toed the line. Alex Montague of Newton won in 4:34, with Needham's Alex Turner second in 4:38.
The two mile run featured two of the top distance studs in the state--Steven Flanagan of Needham and Andrew Mah of Newton, both with PRs of 9:42 or faster. Flanagan took the race out conservatively and ran a heavy negative split on the second mile. "The plan was to go out slow. My first mile was 5:13 and my second one was a 4:43--I know Andrew Mah doesn't have a great kick," said Flanagan after the race. He won in 9:56 after pulling away from Mah with about 700 meters to go, and Mah finished in second with 10:02.
On the girls side, there were many noteworthy performances as well.
Needham's mighty distance duo of Margie Cullen and Sarah Armstrong took center stage in the 400, 800, and mile. Cullen, who placed ninth in the New Balance Nationals Indoor two mile, ran a somewhat-relaxed 5:16 mile and then came back just a few minutes later to win the 400 in 60.1. Armstrong, who was fifteenth in the NBNI championship mile, ran a 2:17.8 800m after going through the first lap in around 68 seconds.
In the girls' 100m, Newton's Cristina Galvagno took first with a time of 13.64.
The Tiger girls dominated the jumps and throws, taking at least two of the top three places in the triple jump, long jump, high jump, javelin, and shot put. Cristina Galvagno won the triple jump with a very impressive performance of 33' 3.5", and the top four athletes in the competition all jumped over 30 feet.
The girls' 100 hurdles was another close competition, with the top three all within a tenth of a second of each other. Sydney Hurwitz of North crossed the line first, just a fraction of a step ahead of her teammate Alexa Perides and Needham's Grace Connolly.
Both teams fought hard for every point, and in the end, the fierce rivalry shall continue. What can we expect next year?