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By Joe Reardon
The pole vault became fun again for Westford Academy’s Brendan Sullivan at last night’s Weston Twilight Invitational.
The state record-holder had been pressing this spring with growing frustration at not hitting the marks he set for himself. Sullivan decided not to worry about his performance, but instead, revert back to the basics in his specialty. Sullivan entered the competition at 14 feet and proceeded to dominate his competitors with a personal best by five inches and a meet record of 16-0 in the dark shadows beyond the final turn of the track that was five hours busy with competition. The senior’s mark bettered his own 14-6 mark he shared with Andover’s Mark Vetere and Ross MacDonald of Newton South, while serving as a benchmark performance so far this spring. “I was calm and just tried to have fun with it today,” said Sullivan. “I went back to the basics. I was thinking about it too much. I just wanted to enjoy it. I’ve had a lot of frustration. I tried not to over think things.”
Catholic Memorial’s Donovan Henry battled Waltham’s Nathan PierreLouis in the 200 to take the win with a quick 21.84. PierreLouis, who ran a terrific race to win the 400 in 48.46, was second in 22.17. Wachusett’s Colin Bennie captured the 800 in a photo finish with Haverhill’s Michael McNaughton. Bennie was clocked at 1:56.52, a whisker in front of the 1:56.53 McNaughton put up.
Walpole’s Connor McCarthy won the 110 hurdles in 15.06 and Joe Lasalle of Marshfield pulled away down the final straightaway for a 56.18 win in the 400 hurdles. Gilberto Brown of Lowell won the high jump with a 6-7 leap and PierreLouis bounded 43-11-½ to win the triple jump. Ian Riley of Needham was an easy winner in the javelin with a heave of 171-5. Newton North’s Swardick Mayanja won the discus by nearly 10 feet with his 147-7 toss. Wachusett’s Laura Williamson ran a swift 2:17.24 to win the 800 and Maya Jarostchuk of Acton-Boxboro picked up the win in the 400 in 57.85.
Somerville’s Nicole Genard also came up with a startling meet record in the javelin with a heave of 136-4. Genard’s effort was well ahead of runner-up Micaila Olson of Whitman-Hanson (115-4) and Natick’s Elizabeth Bruns (113-2). Genard, who will attend Northeastern University next year, was pleased with her effort and is looking to improve on her new personal best. “This is my first big meet I’ve been in (this spring),” she said. “I just got out there and threw. I feel great. This is my senior year and I definitely want to go out with a bang. I’m really trying to get my mark and form down.”
The boys’ two mile proved to be one of the most intriguing events of the evening with Marshfield teammates Joel Hubbard and Kevin Thomas primed for a crack at breaking 9:10. The foursome of Hubbard, Thomas, Pembroke’s Wesley Gallagher and Nick Christensen of Peabody went to the front in a tight pack and stayed that way seven laps. The group distanced itself from the rest of the field through a 4:35 mile and it was still anyone’s race at a mile and a half (7:04). Thomas, who clocked a 9:12 at the New Balance Indoor Nationals in March, made the first move at the gun lap, but was quickly passed by Hubbard and Gallagher as Christensen began to fall back. Hubbard surged again and broke away from Gallagher with 300 meters and crossed the finish line in 9:13.84, a personal best by more than 30 seconds. Gallagher was second in 9:15.64 and Thomas sprinted across the finish line in 9:17.95. Christensen hung on for fourth in 9:27.27. Hubbard knew his 1:53, 800-meter speed could be the difference in the closing lap. “I was hurting with 1200 to go but I knew if I could hold on, my speed would help me out the last lap,” said Hubbard. “I’m really happy with my race. I didn’t really know what to expect. There were some great runners out there. Wesley was the state cross country champion, Kevin’s tough and Nick Christiansen has some nice credentials. I couldn’t forget those guys. “With 800 to go I kind of toughened up. With 300 to go the Pembroke coaches were yelling (for Wes) and I knew I had to go too.” Hubbard has his eye on the mile this spring and is confident his training will pay off in June. “We haven’t done much speed yet,” said Hubbard. “We’re building strength and adding speed later in the year. We’ve been doing tempo runs and repeat miles, cross country stuff.”
King Philip’s Chris Allen and Marika Crowe of Lincoln-Sudbury were in complete control as they posted wins in the mile. Allen led from the start and was never challenged as he raced to victory in 4:16.04. Crowe simply left the pack behind with 600 meters left to finish in 5:05.67. Belchertown’s Madison Granger also broke 5:10 to take second in 5:09.72 while Whitman-Hanson’s Gianna Caccitore was third in 5:11.55. Crowe, who will attend Vanderbilt in the fall, took it upon herself to quicken the pace after a pedestrian first 800. “It was way, way too slow,” said the personable Crowe. “I was 2:37 (at the half). I got really boxed in. I couldn’t run 5:20, that’s like workout pace. I took off. When I went wide I felt strong enough that I knew I was good to go. “It’s my first big test. I guess I’m happy. One of the things I’ve learned is when you make your move you go, go, go. There’s no fooling around. I love the girls I compete against, but when I’m on the line they’re my competition. I want to defeat them physically and mentally.” Allen, too, wanted to make a statement after several maladies put him on the sidelines during the indoor season. “I wanted to take it out at the gun and try to run 4:10 but I got boxed in” said Allen. “It didn’t go exactly the way I wanted but it was still a good time.”
Newton North’s Kayla Wong clipped a hurdle in her heat of the 100-meter event, but still had the fastest qualifying time (15.50) heading into the final. The Cornell-bound Wong expected her main competition to come from Genard and that’s exactly how the final played out. She crossed the finish line with a personal best of 14.70. Genard was a strong second in 15.28 and Concord-Carlisle’s Margaret Perko locked up third in 15.31. Wong was determined to run a near-flawless race in the final after tripping in her heat. “My start went really well,” she said. “In the preliminary round I had a good start but I tripped over the fourth hurdle and it ruined my race so I wanted to come back strong in the final. I knew there was going to be some competition behind me so I wanted to stay sharp. “I took a long time to warm up to make sure everything was all set. It’s still early (in the season) and we haven’t had any high level competition yet. This is the first invitational we’ve had.”
Billerica’s Stephanie White was a big winner in the shot put, moving up a notch from her second seed for 40-7 showing. The win was a big step for White who is coming back slowly from a nagging injury. “I knew I was going to do good today,” said White. “I’m coming off a back injury and it’s feeling a lot better. There was a girl who threw 41 and I knew I had to step up my game. This is the first week I really started pushing it in practice and I’m starting to feel good.”
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