Brian Sommers wanted to take full advantage of his one event at Saturday's 68th New England Track Championships and give the competition a world of hurt in the process.
With no long jump and only the 400-meter dash on his schedule,the Acton-Boxboro senior attacked the event harder than he ever has. Sommers roared out from the start against a deep, frightenly tough field and barreled down the final straightway to shatter his personal best and take first in 48.31 seconds, just ahead of Zachary Andrews (48.48) of New Britain, CT.
"I felt good today," said Sommers. "It was a big PR for me. I was pretty pissed off the last few weeks. I was running 49-low every time and I felt dead after every race. Today, I had the chance to show what I can really do."
Marshfield's Ellen DiPietro is already look forward to next year after setting an outdoor personal best of 5-feet, 8-inches in winning the high jump.
The Rams' junior is still feeling the effects of a bout with mono that wiped out the better part of her dual meet season. "My body's still not the same," said a drained DiPietro. "Every day I don't know how it's going to be. I pulled it together for divisionals and all state. I'm blessed to be here because my season should have ended a while ago."
Chicopee Comp's Alex Niemiec was sporting a heavily taped right ankle that began to bother him at last week's state meet, but that didn't stop the senior from hurtlling himself to a meet record and startling new 13-inch personal best of 24-11. Niemiec's leap bettered the 24-10 mark held by South Hadley's Eric Scammons since 1992. Hingham's Andrew Bolze was second with a strong 23-4 effort.
"I had no idea what it (meet record) was, but I'm sure if I knew what it was I would have been 'nope, no way,'" said the Western Mass talent. "My ankle was killing me at the beginning. I got it taped and the adrenaline was really pumping. My mark was perfect on the 24-11."
Runner-up Andrew Bolze of Hingham intends to work towards breaking Niemiec's mark next year. "Alex jumped to a new record I'll have to chase next year.
"I opened up with a 23-4 so I was extremely happy. All my jumps felt really good. The wind was on and off. On the last jump I went for it and I fouled. They measured it and it was a 23 high."
It was a showdown between the state's two best shotputters and the results were just as impressive as the state meet competition.
Michaela Smith of Newton North followed her second-place, personal-best effort in the state meet win a new personal best of 43-3-1/2 to take the shot put. Mass state champion Sabrina Silva of Mahar Regional was second with a 41-11 toss.
"I was pretty focused," said the soft-spoken Smith. "I wanted to see myself improve from last week. My confidence and technique were there. I was a little timid early. When I got in the finals I had a different mindset."
Jordan Samuels of BC High followed up his personal-best victory performance at the state meet with a 47-7 win in the triple jump.
Mass champion and the state's best hurdler, Jung Park of Newton South, knew that Izaiah McEwen of Bloomfield, CT, would be looking for a little payback in the 110 hurdles after Park defeated him indoors to take the New England title in the 55 hurdles. Park was a step slow out of the blocks and ran out of room at the finish to take second in 14.28. McEwen won by a lean in 14.20. Park, who will bring his talents to Cornell University, doesn't look like the prototypical hurdler, but what he lacks in size he makes up with near flawless technique.
"I have a disadvantage with my height and my leg length," he said. "I work a lot on my technique. Speed is important, but technique is really important. I've been working very hard over the last four years.
"I stumbled a little out of the blocks in the final. I was too low. I'm pretty happy with my time. The guy that won I beat indoors. He was pretty mad indoors. I figured he'd be pretty motivated.'
Silva, who will throw at the University of Rhode Island, had trouble getting her mechanics down in the circle. "I felt ok but I didn't have my leg under me," she said. "I knew it would come down to me and Michaela."
Amherst-Pelham sophomore Taj-Amir Torres had the fastest time in the preliminary heats and he never faltered in the final, breaking the tape in a lightning-fast 10.73. Torres credited the field with pushing him to win.
"These guys really pushed me," said Torres. "I felt awesome and this track is really fast. I felt like I was moving. I still have to work on my blocks. I'm not as fast out of the blocks as some of these guys. I hold my drive phase and stay relaxed. I held back a little in the preliminaries.
State champion Karina Shepard of Dracut had to settle for second place in the 800, but her performance was an eye-opener. The junior bettered her personal best and was under the old meet record with a blazing 2:08.05. Longmeadow's Tony White unleashed a throw of 187-11 to win the javelin.