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Four teams arrived at Newton North's now famous $200 million complex on Tuesday undefeated and looking for a league title. Somehow, three of those teams left undefeated, and having won a league title. And for the first time in my coaching career, a local TV news crew from Fox 25 even covered the meet for their 6:00 and 10:00 broadcasts, perhaps a sign that track and field might soon move off of the periphery in this state.
The girls meet ended up being merely an appetizer for the boys meet, one that featured a lean victory in the meet's final event, the 4x400 meter relay.
The meet played out more like an old backyard brawl than a prize fight, with both teams landing what seemed to be knock out blows, rather than feeling each other out for a few rounds and dancing near the corner. Weymouth opened the meet with its best all around athlete, Tyler Mulcahy, blasting his best 110 hurdles time in 15.0, well ahead of sophomore Nick Fofana (15.9) and Young Guang (16.3), who each ran PR's to stop the bleeding. Ryan Lucken followed it up with a win in the 100 (11.1) over UMass football recruit Khary Bailey-Smith (11.2) and Wildcat spark plug Ronald Homere (11.7), and there we were again, knotted at 9-9, as if nothing had happened.
There were plenty of turning points in the meet, moments that appeared to swing the momentum permanently in one team's direction- but they never did. Weymouth used another monster performance from Mulcahy (22'6") to lead a sweep in the long jump, a major swing event that saw great performances from Bailey-Smith and Derrell Fernandez (19'7") as well. But North wasn't to be denied, earning a sweep of their own in the shot put, thanks to Leslie Whitham (51'1"), Guang (46'5"), and Jermel Wright. That's a sweep without using Swardiq Mayanja, a key factor that will come back to assist North later on. 18-18 they stood, 4 events down.
North looked poised for a turning point, as Justin Keefe (4:45.9) and Jon Long (4:51.5) bookended Weymouth's Matt Murphy in the mile. A Weymouth win in the 4x100 restored its lead, and then the Wildcats simply called upon Mulcahy again, who fought Lucken to the line in the 400, before giving way to the Tiger junior 49.8- 50.1. Dave Harrison survived the early pace to take 3rd, but he would be back later, not to worry. Mulcahy wasn't done either, as he reset his own school record in the triple jump, soaring over 44 feet, better than North's david Oluwadara (42'10") and Hanson Yang (40'6"). It was 35-33 Weymouth.
North's throwing dominance was too much for the Wildcats to handle, as Guang led a sweep in the discus (130'6"), ahead of Wright (125'2") and Mayanja (121'6"), and then Fofana (153'8") and Jack Boucher (136'9") took the top two spots in the javelin ahead of Weymouth junior Sean Murphy. A 50-36 Newton lead appeared to be too much to overcome, but Weymouth responded again, as Trevor Tuplin won the 400 hurdles and Matt Glover (60.5) outleaned Chris Wein (60.6) for 2nd, another swing event that swung Weymouth's way.
Next up was a spirited duel in the 800 meters, one in which sophomores Gabe Montague (1:59.4) and Adrian Butterton (2:03.3) were too much for Connor McLaughlin (2:04.0) to handle. McLaughlin limped off of the track, appearing to be done for the day. Amazaingly, he would come back to run the 4x400, showing guts that would be needed.
Bailey-Smith was not to be denied in the high jump, as he currently holds the state's best mark of 6'11", and was able to save his legs in the process. Fofana (5'8") was 2nd, but unsung Wildcat hero Reggie Dumond (5'4") snuck a key 3rd place, and once again, the momentum had shifted back to Weymouth, but North still led 62-51. To have a chance, Weymouth needed a sweep in the 200, an event North senior Shawn Seamans was in, making it an uphill climb. But Tyler O'Brien and Ryan MacDougall had it covered, and freshman Henry McDonald closed the gap before the line arrived, putting 9 points in the bank for Weymouth, and makin it a 2 point meet again.
Mike Schlichting then took charge of an entertaining 2 mile race, one that changed leaders four times. Jared Forman led the way early on, with Brendan Butler of Weymouth looking poised to take charge around the mile mark. Suddenly, Paul Abbene, apparently fresh off a viewing of "Rudy", jumped in front and took a brief but commanding lead. Abbene, he of the 11:00 personal best, looked like he was having an out of body experience, and although he would eventually fade to 4th place, he deserves an assist for Butler's (10:26) runner-up performance, as a sit and kick affair would have hurt the Weymouth pair. Clearly Schlichting (10:15.4) was going to be the class of the race, though, and Forman (10:31) would survive Abbene's (10:36) charge, but Weymouth had brought the meet to 68-63, with a chance to tie and earn a share of a league title with a 4x400 victory.
The relay opened with a spirited duel between Wein and Trevor Tuplin, each running near the 54 second mark. Justin Keefe opened only the slightest lead over McLaughlin (54.0), who recovered from his jelly-legged post 800 to run his gutiest performance in a 12 season, 4 year career. Joe Mulcahy, the sophomore heir to his brother's throne, batled Gabe Montague, before giving way to a 2 second gap and his anchor, sophomore Dave Harrison. Harrison never wavered in his pursuit of North's Shawn Seamans, and slowly began to chip away at the Newton anchor's lead. By the time he caught up, only 40 meters remained on the track. Seamans found another gear, but amazginly, so did Harrison, and both runners leaned across the finish line, looking more like Balboa and Creed at the end of Rocky II. Harrison had won the race, going 49.7, and giving Weymouth a tie, 68-68, and allowing the teams to share a league title when all was said and done.
The girls meet appeared to be going in the same direction, but the early sizzle turned to more of a fizzle for Weymouth. Molly Barker (11:31.1) and freshman Ashley Betts (11:33.1), knew the only chance they had was a 1-2 finish i the 2 mile, and despite strong pushes from Maggie Heffernan (11:42.0) and freshman Sonja Jampel (12:00.0), it was a monstrous 7th lap that sealed the deal. Kayla Wong would counter for North in the 100 hurdles (14.4), well ahead of Melissa Darling (15.5) and teammate Sonja Lehmann (16.1). Weymouth clung to an 11-7 lead at that point, but it would not see another lead for the rest of the afternoon.
In an event that demonstrated the Wildcats' frustration on the day, Jen Kimball (36'5.5'), Melissa Darling (36'4.5"), and Kristin Leone (35'9") would all break the WHS record in the triple jump, but only Kimball's mark would even place in the meet. Carla Forbes (40'9") expectedly won the event, and Allison Hurwitz (38'0") would put in monstrous jumps, and event that featured five of the state's top seven recorded jumps this spring.
Forbes would then win the 100 (12.6) ahead of teammate Kaila Hatcher (13.3), and the fateful mile would essentially decide the meet for good. Evie Heffernan (5:15.8) found a way to outlast Weymouth seniors Julie Tevenan (5:16.4) and Bridget Jaklitsch (5:23.0) and North's lead would grow to 28-17, making the Wildcat wiggle room, at this point, zero. A 4x100 relay win stretched it farther, and then a key high jump win from Lucia Grigoli (4'11", ahead of Ashley Donovan on misses) made it 38-21.
A few surprising performances put the meet permanently out of reach. An off day for Weymouth's long jumpers allowed Newton North to sweep, on the backs of Forbes (19'0"), Kayla Prior (17'4"), and Wong (16'10.75"). Grigoli (100'11") led a sweep in the discus, with sophomore Michaela Smith (95'11") not far back, and Smith came back to unseat Nostia Amazan (34'11") in the shot put by just an inch and a half.
Jen Kimball did everything in her power to keep Weymouth close, winning the 400 hurdles in a state's best and WHS record 64.3. She also PR'd in the javelin (99'11"), but freshman Maddie Jacks (104'1") was a shade better. When North's freshman duo of Cookie Koch (2:26.5) and Maeve Greeley (2:26.8) outlasted Allison Brady (2:28.1) in the 800, it was clear that the young North squad had been fully briefed by Coach Tranchita as to how to rise up and win a close meet. Forbes (26.3) took care of the 200, Meagan Bellerose did the same in the 400 (60.2), and North won 90-46. The dominance is just a sign of things to come, as Newton is the odds-on favorite to win its 3rd conescutive EMass DI title, as well as the All State title for the 2nd straight spring.
In a meet that featured 50 state qualifying performances (25 by each side), it might be safe to say that there will not be a greater showing of depth on a track during a dual meet in quite some time.
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