DISTANCE
Lexington's Thomas Lingard is the No. 1 seed for 800m and a runner we believe will be tough to beat this Saturday. Lingard won the Twilight Invitational and clocked a PB of 1:54.89 to win the Eastern Division 1 title. The talented senior is a front-runner that likes to take the pace out hard.The race is without Westford Academy's Jason Dolan, who ran a state-leading 1:53.89 at the Loucks Games. Dolan is scheduled to compete in the mile. Still, without Dolan, Lingard will be pushed to the limit in this race. Among some of the contenders are Worcester Technical's Herlin Rijo, who blazed to a PR of 1:55.81 to win the Western/Central Division 1 meet. There's also Newton North's Theo Burba, second to Lingard at the divisionals and a gritty competitor for the two-lapper. Andover's Devin Connell (1:56.44) and Northampton's Benjamin Gordon-Sniffen (1:56.53) also are legit threats.
Arlington's Ryan Oosting has earned the favorite status in the two longest races on the track, the mile and two-mile runs. Oosting brings a season best of 4:18.31 to the line, but has an all-time best of 4:11. Look for him to run a time closer to his PR on Saturday. He'll have some talented competition behind him to push him in the early stages, particularly Dolan. The Westford Academy senior has had a strong spring campaign, and won the mile at the Dual County League Championships, the Weston Twilight Invitational and the recent Eastern Division 1 meet where he clocked 4;18.77. He opted out of the 800m this weekend, more than likely to focus on a fast time in the mile at the states. Judging by the season he has had - remember, he ran 1:53 for 800m - he seems ready to uncork a fast one on Saturday, possibly in the 4:15 range. The sophomore tandem of Franklin's Tyler Brogan (4:19.92) and Michael Griffin (4:21.04) should figure in the mix for podium placements.
The two mile kicks off the running events this weekend, and should provide the perfect opener for the All States. Oosting, St. John's Prep's Tristan Shelgren and Newton North's Andrew Mah will all have fresh legs for this race and it's not too far-fetched to say that we could have three under 9:10. Oosting is again the primary one to keep an eye on in this race and with the likes of Shelgren and Mah in the field may have to match what he did in indoor this past February with a sub nine-minute effort. Mah and Shelgren will both be focused on running this race hard, much like they did this past Monday at the Eastern Division 1 meet where Shelgren got the best of his rival with a one-second victory and PR of 9:10.21. Mah had a best of 9:11.25. This will not be the type of race that Oosting can sit back and conserve energy for the mile later in the meet. Expect it to be fast from the start, possibly sub 4:30 after the first mile.