Dainton Among Stars At Last-Chance Qualifier


The MSTCA Last Chance To Qualify Meet certainly produced its share of quality performances inside the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center.

Hingham's Zoe Dainton improved on her state-leading height in the high jump  by an inch with a personal-best of 5 feet, 8 inches. That leap ties her for No. 6 in the national rankings.

As predicted, the boys' 600-meter run didn't disappoint with Somerville's Phillips Magre holding off Lincoln-Sudbury's Robert Roosi with a winning time of 1 minute, 24.63 seconds. Roosi was mere strides behind in 1:24.91.

Top-seed Collette O'Leary of Milton maintained her status in the girls' mile run by winning the individual title with a time of 5:08.67. She was comfortably ahead of her rivals. Placing second was Amherst-Pelham's Sophie Jacobs with a time of 5:11.45, just .01 ahead of Weston's Jillian Howard, who took third.

Natick's Rachel Parker moved up to No. 3 in the state rankings by breaking the tape in the girls' 55m dash with a time of 7.33. She ran a quick 7.39 in the preliminaries.

Sharon's Ariadne Tolay ran the state's sixth best time in the 600m with a personal best of 1:36.91.

In an event specifically set up as a New Balance Nationals (NBN) qualifier, four teams earned the standards in the Sprint Medley Relay. Milton led two others in the girls' event with a winning time of 4:09.48. Taking second was Marshfield at 4:12.98 and placing third was Lincoln-Sudbury in 4:16.78. Plymouth North also qualified for NBN with its first-place time of 3:37.91 in the boys' race.

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