The MIAA All-State Outdoor Championship on June 4 concluded a historic year in Massachusetts track and field. Meet records, state records, and regional records have fallen this season--but who will follow in the footsteps of those who graduate from high school this year, including Thomas Ratcliffe, Brianna Duncan, and Nik Smith, in the years to come? The runners, throwers, and jumpers who still have three years left: the freshmen.
Many ninth graders have already proven their worth at States and other meets, and we can only speculate as to where their talents will take them in the future. These are the finest freshmen in Massachusetts, the athletes who may go on to become state champions--and beyond.
Aramburu proved his talent on the other end of the distance-running spectrum during the indoor season by posting several very impressive times in the 1000m (2:40 to win BSC#1) and 800m relay splits (2:01 at the D1 Championships). His 4x800m relay team took fourth at the state meet with a solid time of 8:07.
While the cross-country and indoor track seasons brought quite a few impressive performances from the Brookline superstar, it was this outdoor season where he truly began to shine. His first race of the season was a 4:29 mile in a dual meet against Needham in mid-April, followed shortly afterwards by a 4:26 split at the D1 Relays meet on April 30.
Perhaps most impressive was Aramburu's mile race at the Andover Invitational, where he boldly stuck with the leaders and even made a strong bid for the win in the home straight. However, Marcelo Rocha of Peabody barely edged him out at the line in a fantastic photo finish, and Aramburu had to settle for second--his final time was 4:22, which currently ranks US#3 among freshmen. To further put that time into perspective, AJ Ernst ran 4:44 as a freshman, Thomas D'Anieri ran 4:25, and Thomas Ratcliffe ran 4:26--all three of these athletes are now highly-decorated state champions.
Will Aramburu run 4:01 by the time he's a senior, like Ratcliffe did? Maybe, maybe not--but no doubt he will improve, and it will be exciting to see what he'll be able to do in the future.
Milton is known for consistently having a strong sprinting squad, and this year was certainly no different. Elise O'Leary, the ninth grade jack-of-all-trades, has a skillset that ranges perhaps even further than Lucas Aramburu's, from 18:38 for 5k all the way down to 56.74 for 400m.
Elise O'Leary definitely knows how to put herself in a position to succeed. As of the day of the All-State meet, she has raced (including relays) once in the NXN Northeast Regional, six times in XC, indoor and outdoor state championship meets, twice at New England championship meets, and twice at New Balance Nationals.
These big competitions don't come without merit--O'Leary (and her relay teams) placed fourth in the 600m and third in the 4x400m at New England's indoors, in addition to ninth in the distance medley and sixth in the 4x800m at NBNI.
One of the most notable of O'Leary's achievements is her overall tendency to improve in almost every race. Her 400m PRs began in the 58-high range at the beginning of the season (which is, of course, already a very good time) and have been steadily decreasing by a few tenths of a second with each meet. A mark of 56.86 was easily enough to take the victory at the D3 Championships, and her current PR of 56.74 got her third place at All-States.
Not to be overlooked, O'Leary also has great speed in the 400m hurdles competition, which she also raced at States. Her 64.58 from divisionals is currently MA#4 overall and US#4 for freshmen.
With many of Milton's best athletes returning next year, we may well see even higher finishes at state championships, regionals, and nationals for Elise O'Leary and her teammates.
Two female sprinters from central Massachusetts battled to the line in the 200m at States--Kyla Hill of Minnechaug (center) and Alyssa Madden of Oakmont (right). These two freshmen may have taken the backseat in the girls' sprints this time due to Brooke-Lynn Williams' state record in the 100m, but they'll be the names to watch in coming years.
Madden outleaned Hill in the last milliseconds of the race to take fifth in 25.44--Hill was sixth in 25.46. These two runners are unbelievably similar, as they were also separated by only .02 in the prelims of the state meet (25.72 for Hill, 25.74 for Madden) and .03 the finals of their respective divisional championships (25.60 for Hill, 25.63 for Madden).
Both athletes had already stacked up excellent credentials even before States. Hill was second at the Weston Twilight meet with a time of 26.56, and Madden placed seventh at New Englands in the 300m last winter (in fact, she competed at New Englands as an eighth grader the year before and placed eighth).
Both Madden and Hill ran personal bests in the state finals, and will be looking to better their respective times and places in the next three years. Brooke-Lynn Williams may be the top story now, but her PR as a ninth grader was only a shade under 27 seconds--could we see more state records fall in the near future.
It was never any secret that Grace Connolly of Natick is something special. It's hard to miss a girl in any grade who ran a 17:50 5k, not to mention a performance of 10:45 for two miles indoors. Connolly is already the state runner-up in two different events, and with several top-notch distance runners graduating this year, it may be her time to win championships as soon as next year.
Connolly, like Aramburu and O'Leary, possesses a wide range of skills including a 60-point 400m and the aforementioned sub-18-minute 5k. During the indoor season she focused mainly on the two mile, where she dipped under eleven minutes a mind-blowing five times--suffice it to say that she almost never fails to fulfill her potential. For comparison, Margie Cullen of Needham, the four-time two mile champion, didn't break eleven until her junior year.
Higher competitions don't daunt the Natick speedster. She ran the two mile indoors at New Englands and Nationals, where she ran 10:54 and 10:51 respectively.
Sportsmanship is an important aspect of any athletic activity, and Grace Connolly knows how to show it on the track. After her races, she consistently gives hugs and congratulations to her fellow competitors, regardless of who won. She also doesn't forget about the team aspect of track and field, and has run on Natick's 4x800m squad at States, New Englands, and Nationals.
Lastly, Connolly's most recent accomplishment may be her most impressive. Her 4:55.40 mile to take runner-up honors on June 4 ranks US#1 among freshmen by more than two full seconds, and qualifies her for the Emerging Elite and freshmen mile competitions at New Balance Nationals Outdoor.
Smith Charles' state championship in the 100m speaks quite a bit for itself, as it's certainly not every day that you see a ninth grader take a state title. Not that his success was entirely unexpected--he was fourth in the state in the 55m during the indoor season, and none of the three runners who beat him were in the competition last weekend.
Charles' running is especially interesting in that his places and times seem to improve enormously the larger the meet he's competing in--last indoor, he was fourth at States (as mentioned), then second at New England's, and finally second at Nationals in the freshmen 60m. He also ran a sizable personal record in the 100m when he won the state championship, and based on this pattern, he may go even faster than his ridiculous 10.77 before the end of the year.
Charles beat the field by two tenths of a second over George Biney (far left), as well as the previous MA#1 Davonte Burnett (middle left), and the 200m state champion Nik Smith (far right). A high-class field for sure, but Charles blew it out of the water with his blazing-fast 10.77.
In addition to his crazy speed, Charles is also a very talented high jumper. He took fourth at States with a huge PR of 6-6, missing the winning height by only two inches--that mark is tied for MA#2 overall and also tied for US#2 among freshmen. (Photo is from the Bay State Conference championships on May 18.)
Charles is clearly an extremely gifted athlete. While his championship title leaves little room for improvement in terms of place among Massachusetts runners, one thing is certain: Smith Charles will go on to do great things in his high school career.