Ecstatic. Pure and simple.
That’s the one and only way Newton North’s Ryan Lucken could explain the exhilaration of sprinting away from a packed field to win the 300-meter dash at yesterday’s Div. 1 track championships at the Reggie Lewis Center.
Lucken was fast to the cut in and tore away from Acton-Boxboro’s Brian Sommers and Ryan Fitzgerald of Lowell to win in a meet record 34.89 seconds. Sommers registered a quick 35.14 for second and Fitzgerald was third at 35.64. “I’m so ecstatic right now,” said the ripped Lucken. “It was a race to the halfway mark. I had a lot support going to the starting line from my teammates. I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in. It’s been an amazing season.”
Shrewsbury’s Domonique Hall was equally amazing in the 300, pulling away from Acton-Boxboro’s always-tough Maya Jarostchuk to topple the meet record at 40.07. Hall was in control from the gun and never lost her poise. “My coach told me to be patient at the start and be first at the cut,” said Hall. “I’m just so happy. It was a huge meet for me. I wanted this so bad.”
Lexington’s girls relay squad of Camila Isern, Melissa Solomon, Olivia Manickas-Hill and Robin Gross won the 4x400 with a swift 3:58.51 to force a tie for first in the team standings with Cambridge with 40 points. Cambridge took the 4x200 in 1:47.60 led by Anchella Bernard, Dora Cronin, Kenlee Presume and Sydney Fisher.
Lowell had a big win in the 4x800 at 8:01.13 to lead the way to the boys’ title with 50 points to edge out Newton North’s 48.
Briana Robitaille of Attleboro squared off against Barnstable’s Amanda Henson in the 55 dash and it proved to be a dandy. The University of Rhode Island-bound Robitaille was first out of the blocks and held off the fast-finishing Henson for a 7.21 win. Henson ran 7.28 for second and Sydney Fisher of Cambridgew was third in 7.40.
Second last year, Robitaille found the win extremely satisfying. “This time around the start felt good,” she said. “We had three snow days this week. It was all about working on my starts when we got a place to practice.”
Catarina Rocha, who recently signed to attend Providence College in the fall, had the fastest seed in the mile by 16 seconds and that’s exactly how the race played out for the Peabody starlet. Rocha left the chase pack behind and blazed her way to a second consecutive title in 4:52.34.
Last week’s snowstorm impeded Rocha’s workouts but she shrugged it off as being par for the course in the northeast. “We’re runners,” Rocha said with a shrug. “We run through it. I felt good through the whole race and pretty relaxed. I just wanted to do my best.” Rocha showed she can drop down to a shorter event and be a major factor, ripping through an anchor split of 2:15.7 to help Peabody clinch third in the 4x800 in 9:41.71. Lincoln-Sudbury was victorious in 9:39.60.
Andre Rolim of Somerville made his fourth consecutive 600 title look easy as he smoothly took the lead and cruised to the win in 1:21.97. Methuen’s Mike O’Donnell dominated the mile with a swift 4:18.01 to win by two seconds and Lowell’s Bryanna Allison was the class of the 1000 field, running a quick 2:57.90.
O’Donnell felt strong from the gun and decided he’d push the pace. “I felt much better than I thought I was going to,” he said. “I went out fast and was able to close faster. I got in some good training with the snow storm.”
Westfield’s Blake Croteau looked to be in top form as he surged away from the 2 mile field for the gold medal in 9:21.81.