Division 1 - Friday
This division will feature several intriguing match-ups on the oval and infield. Newton North's Theo Burba is creeping closer to a sub 1:20 effort for 600m. Burba clocked a season best of 1:20.16 for the three-lapper at the Bay State Conference Championships on Monday. That comes just two days after running a 1:55 lead-off 800m leg for the Tigers' winning SMR at the New Balance Grand Prix. Burba should get the added push he needs from Lexington's Thomas Lingard, who has done 1:21.91 this season. If Lingard focuses on the 1,000m, things could get interesting there, too. The No. 1 seed is Westford Academy's Jason Dolan, who ran to a state No. 1 of 2:30.63 at the Dual County Conference meet on Saturday. Lingard, last year's state 1K titlist, has a season best of 2:31.15. There's also Andover's Devin Connell, another guy who has dipped under 2:33 with a 2:32.76 effort this winter.
Davonte Burnett of Needham will be hoping to continue his strong season in the sprints where he has state-leading times of 6.34 for 55m and 34.16 for 300m. In the former, Lowell tenth-grader Richmond Kwaateng might create some excitement at the finish. He's done 6.46 this season, a time that ranks fourth nationally among sophomores.
The boys' distance events could produce some fast times. St. John's Prep's Tristan Shelgren is entered in a competitive mile race where the top four seeds have run under 4:24. Shelgren leads the group with his season best of 4:18.58. Westford's Dolan brings a 4:20.64 to the line. In the two mile, Newton North's Andrew Mah is the No. 1 seed with a 9:27.68. To earn the 'W', he will have to hold off a talented trio that includes St. John teammates Josh Rahn (9:28.85) and Patrick Craemer (9:29.17) as well as Brookline's Lucas Aramburu (9:29.82).
Acton-Boxborough's Adam Yang will look to further his state No. 2 in the long jump. The recent Dual County League champion had a big-time PR of 23-1.25 at the Coaches Invitational last month.
The meet's final event could be it's most electrifying. Three teams are separated by just .19 of a second in the boys' 4x400m relay with Needham (3:27.78), Boston College High (3:27.84) and Newton North (3:27.97).
How about the girls' events? We have a few nail-biters there, too. Expect a pair of down-to-the-wire affairs from Springfield's Kyla Hill and Wachusett's Victoria Steffon in the sprint events. Hill is the No. 1 seed in both the 55m dash (7.20) and 300m (40.71). Steffon has similar clockings with best of 7.24 and 40.89, respectively. Kimesha Lewis of Lowell has also broken 41 seconds for 300m. .jpg)
We could see a little bit of juggling in the middle- to long-distance events with scratches a possibility due to multiple events entered. Acton-Boxborough's Samantha Friborg is inked into the 600m and 1,000m, two events that are back-to-back on the schedule. The nation's top 800m runner will have fresh legs for the 600m where she has brings a PB and state best of 1:33.25 (US #3) from the DCL Championships. Friborg also has a PB and state best of 2:51.66 (US #6) for the 1K. Newton South teammates Lucy Jenks and Caroline Barry have also been assigned double duty. Both are scheduled to compete in the mile. At the Last Chance To Qualify meet, Jenks sizzled to a best of 4:57.95 for the mile, a race that Barry ran 5:06.27. Jenks, who is just a sophomore, is also the No. 2 seed behind Friborg in the 1K, an event she captured with ease at the DCL with her PB of 2:53.73. Barry is favored to win the 3,000m where her time of 11:10.72 is comfortably ahead of her competitors.
The girls' shot could go either way with Brockton's Julieth Nwosu (39-2) and Cambridge's Khadija Romain (38-10.5) mere inches apart with their seedings.