Abu Ceesay lives in a silent world, but it is a very fast and fufilling existence for the Bridgewater-Raynham freshman.
With the help of his interpreter Sharon Hollis, Ceesay, who is deaf, surged out of the blocks and was clear of the pack by the time he reached 200 meters at Saturday’s South Shore Principals Meet. The freshman standout accelerated all the way to the finish to capture the win in 51.34, easily defeating the New Bedford tandem of Ory Todd (52.15) and Kemar Roselus (52.43). The time was a new personal best and not far from the Trojans’ school record of 50.5. The win on the Norwell High oval proved to be the perfect warm up for next weekend’s Div. 1 championship meet and solidified the fact that Ceesay’s deafness is not a detriment to racing or winning.
“I kind of go medium speed and when I get to the 200 I go as hard as I can,” the personable rookie said through Hollis. “I run kind of calm. I work on my form and do a lot of stretching.”
Hollis, who works in the Bridgewater-Raynham school system, has been to several of Ceesay’s meets and grown close to him since he moved to the United States from Gambia in January. His teammates, Hollis said, took an immediate liking to the freshman trackster and have a great deal of respect for both his talent and courage dealing with his deafness. “He’s new in the school,” said Hollis. “These are his buddies and this is his team. I love coming to the meets. I feel like I’m part of the team. I wear a lot of hats and do a lot of sports.”
Ursuline Academy’s Amy Piccolo easily defeated the 400 field, making up the stagger on the backstretch and sprinting home in 58.09 seconds for the four-second win. The enormously talented sophomore also placed a close second in the 400 hurdles (65.23) behind Whitinsville’s Abby Epplett (65.04).
Second in the Div. 4 championships in the 400 last year, Piccolo would like to move up a next weekend. ‘I’m hoping if I do run the 400 I can win it,” she said. “It (400) wasn’t a personal best but it was close. You never know what someone else is going to run. I started fast the first 200 and then I gave it everything I have.”
Piccolo believes she could have caught Epplett on the final straightaway of their race. “If I ran faster at the end I could have caught the girl who won,” she said.
One of the most moving races in the meet came in the freshman girls 400. Weymouth’s Emma Sullivan knew it was her final chance to score a qualifying mark for the Div. 1 meet and she did that. With head coach Mike Miller yelling encouragement at the top of his lungs from the sidelines, Sullivan sprinted hard down the final straightaway for the win, stamping her ticket to next weekend’s meet in 64.03.
“I was afraid it was going to be my last race,” said the smiling Sullivan. “I ran really hard but I had no idea if I had it. I’d like to run under 60 (seconds) at the class meet.”
Paolo Tavares of New Bedford and Norwell’s Owen Wiggins kept an eye on each other for the first three laps of the mile before the Whalers’ senior switched gears and pulled away for a personal-best win in 4:29.18. Wiggins was a second back in 4:30.20.
Tavares wrestles during the winter season and finished a strong third at the New Englands. He attributes much of his running success to his training on the mats. “I get my core strength from wrestling,” said Tavares. “If you get mentally broken (wrestling) you still have somebody coming after you.”
Tavares, who has also run a swift 9:34 in the 2 mile, is looking ahead to the Div. 1 meet and found the Principals competition to be the perfect tune up. “I was using it as more of a workout,” Tavares said. “I feel like I could have pushed a little harder. I’m hoping to qualify for all-states again (in the 2 mile) and looking to run a second faster a lap.”
Newton North dominated the middle-distance races with Meghan Bellerose running away from the 800 field in 2:17.03 and Evie Heffernan taking the mile in 5:26.31.
Heffernan opened a five-meter lead at the gun lap and easily held off runner-up Lindsay Baryluk of Ursuline (5:33.59). “I like getting out fast and then settling behind someone,” said the 5:07 miler. “I stay there until I feel like I’m ready to go. At the half mile, I really wanted to push the pace. I felt good. This is a fun meet.”
Bellerose simply raced away from the 800 field and was never challenged. She passed the 400 in 65.3 and was able to relax over the final lap. “I wanted to take it out. That was the plan,” Bellerose said. “I hadn’t looked much at the competition so I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. I didn’t think anyone was close to me at the end.’
Whitman-Hanson’s Paul Duffey was the overwhelming favorite to win the 800 as he headed to the starting line with the fastest seed time by seven seconds. The race turned to be a completely lopsided affair as the smooth-running Duffey sped through 400 meters in 56.8 and cruised to an impressive solo victory with a 1:57.84. The time was a personal best for Duffey who has run the 800 just three times. He was a whopping eight seconds in front of runner-up Ryan Hanley of Bridgewater-Raynham (2:06.11).
It will be interesting to see what Duffey runs at the Div. 1 meet where he will no doubt be pushed. The senior is only looking to continue to improve his time and expects the rest to take care of itself. “That was the third 800 I’ve run this year,” said Duffey with a smile. “I’ve been slowly improving my times. I knew I was seeded first and the second seed was seven seconds behind me.”
Duffey believes there are improvements still to make in his training that he believes will ultimately improve his time. “I’d like to improve my stamina,” he said. “At 600 meters it hits me. You go that far and you can’t stop. (Running the 400) has definitely improved my speed. There’s no time in general I want to get. I just want to get a new personal best every week.”
Freshman Reana Allen of Brockton outleaned Newton North’s Kaila Hatcher to capture the 100 in 13.20. Allen’s teammate, Patricia Montiero, took the 100 hurdles by more than a second in 15.0 and the Bridgewater-Raynham girls 4x100 relay team captured the gold medal in 51.54 with Brockton placing third in 51.69.
In the freshman 100 it was all Amanda Almeida of Brockton who bolted to the win in 13.33. Whitman-Hanson’s Nate Stephansky outkicked Corey branch of Hopkinton for the win in the 2 mile at 9:45.44. West Bridgewater’s Adam Petti ran a strong 9:56.7 to capture third place. Brockton’s Deon Raper got off a great start in the 110 hurdles and raced to victory in 15.30. Troy Caisey of West Bridgewater was third in 16.11. Bridgewater-Raynham’s boys 4x400 team was tough with the 3:31.31 win and Rockland’s Tyler Gibson cleared 6-0 for the win in the high jump with Brendan Sullivan of Bridgewater-Raynham clinching third at 5-10. Gibson capped a great day with a win against a deep triple jump field at 42-5-1/2. Brockton’s Treavor Korli was third with his 41-6 leap. Kyle DiNunno of Bridgewater-Raynham won the freshman 400 in a quick 55.62.
Scituate’s Phoebe Ryan took the 200 in 26.43 and Ursuline Academy freshman Erin Grela easily won the 2 mile by 14 seconds in 11:47.28. The Newton North girls were victorious in the both the 4x400 (4:06.55) and 4x800 (10:25.25). The Tigers also came up with a win in the high jump with Annie Greene clearing 5-2 for the gold medal. New Bedford’s Melissa Isidor edged Norwell’s Danielle Griffin in the long jump, 16-5 to 16-3-1/2, while Griffin took the triple jump with a strong leap of 34-8-1/2.
Newton North’s superb Michaela Smith had a huge day in the shot put, pounding out a 41-1-1/2 heave while Plymouth South’s Maddie Braz won the discus with her 126-6 effort. Jessica Gratzer of Pembroke took the javelin at 128-6.
Plymouth South’s Dylan Oxsen was the big winner in the 100 at 11.23 while Irvin Johnson of New Bedford clinched the 200 with a ferocious stretch run in 22.53 and also captured gold in the long jump at 20-0. Norwell’s Aaron Hartford won the 400 hurdles in 60.81 and the Mashpee 4x100 team edged Brockton in 44.01. Weymouth dominated the 4x800 in in 8:20.25. Darius Gaylor of New Bedford won the discus with a 139-6 throw and Pembroke’s Jake Moran turned the javelin into a one-athlete show with his 172-4 heave. Braintree’s Tom Redington took the freshman mile in 4:56.68.