Mansfield's tracksters were confident they'd be in the mix in the both the boys' and girls' meets at Friday night's Div. 2 Indoor Track & Field Championships. But the chance of both team coming away with wins? That scenario wasn't bantered about.
The Hornets, though, proved they're at the very top of their respective games by sweeping both team titles at the Reggie Lewis Center. The Mansfield girls broke the meet record in the 4x400 by ripping off a blazing 4:00.66 behind Maddie Oldow, Lindsay Goulet, Rachel Stier and Mikaila Amerantes to highlight the 67-point win. Derek Rose's squad finished comfortably ahead of runner-up and Hockomock League rival King Philip (56 points).
Amerantes (1:36.08) and Goulet (1:36.41) finished 1-2 in the 600 in a key event for the Hornets. Kelsey Ferreira clinched third in the 55 hurdles in 8.74. The 4x200 team also picked up a bronze medal as Caitlin Finnerty, Marissa Horn, Lauren Waters and Jacqueline Dickman raced to a 1:50.17 clocking.
"We thought we'd be in it, but we knew it was going to be tight with Needham and King Philip," said Rose. "Marshfield had a great meet too. The girls really came through. We had some really great performances and won by more points than we ever thought we would."
The Hornets owned the team competition as Julie Collins' boys edged out Needham 57-53.5 and first-year coach Derek Rose guided the girls to a 67-point win to defeat Hockomock League rival King Philip.
Oliver Erickson owned the shot put for Mansfield, getting off a 52-4-3/4 heave to capture his specialty.
"We knew we'd be in the mix," said Collins. "We scored it before the meet and it was a dead heat with Needham. We came out on the short end of the stick a lot last year and I reminded them of that and that it would come down to points and fractions of points."
Mansfield had some pleasant surprises on the track that strengthened its bid for a team title. Curtis Boisvert finished a strong sixth in the 55 in 6.76 and teammate James Cooney set a personal best in the 600 (1:24.30) in placing sixth out of the unseeded heat.
Mike Duggan roared away from Reading's Matt Dynan to win the mile in a swift 4:22.68 for the Hornets. Dynan was 30 meters back in 4:26.90. Dan Romano also picked up points with a personal best of 9:21.62 with his second-place finish in the 2 mile.
Needham's Kaleigh Hughes fully believes the fast times she's put up this winter are a direct result of the mileage she piled on running on the hills and trails during the cross country season.
The junior ran competitively last fall for the first time and her times have pushed her to the elite level on the track. So far, Hughes has sliced 23 seconds off her mile time and bettered her 1000 best by a whopping 12 seconds this magical winter. Running comfortably in front from the gun, Hughes bulled her way through 800 meters in 2:24 then left King Philip's Olivia Weir behind over the final 200, crossing the finish line in a swift 2 minutes, 57.19 seconds.
Hughes welcomed being the top seed, but was wary of Weir and the pack behind her. "I was ready for anyone," she said. "You just never know what's going to happen. I wanted to take it out and my goal was to win. I want to PR next week at the state meet."
The meet on a whole was loaded with strong performances, beginning with Barnstable's Amanda Henson who won both the 55 (7.16) and 300 (40.70). Ellen DiPietro of Marshfield led a 1-2 sweep of the 55 hurdles with teammate Kelsey Sullivan, sprinting to an 8.47 win. Sullivan, who took the long jump at 17-5-1/2, clocked an 8.52. DiPietro was also an easy winner in the high jump with a 5-8 leap, making her and Sullivan arguably the best tandem in Massachusetts.
Sullivan, who will attend Northeastern University, is looking forward to competing on the Reggie Lewis track collegiately. "I love this track, it's awesome," she said.
Sullivan made adjustments along the way in her gold medal performance in the long jump, but her spring off the board was the best it's been all season.
"I had two really big pops on the board on my first two jumps and that's something I've struggled with all year," she said. 'I ended up fouling on those two, but I got the third one. Once I got to the finals it was smooth sailing and I was going for first place. You don't have to change your mark much. The deeper you get into the season the longer and stronger my stride gets. Today I was just a little off, but my pop off the board was good."
Hantzly Murat of Needham pulled off Henson's double with wins in the 55 (6.59) and 300 (35.65). King Philip's Owen Gonser went at it alone in the 2 mile and just missed the meet record with a scintillating 9:14.70.
"It (the record) was in the back of my mind," said a surprisingly fresh Gonser. "The two mile is such a cool event. I'm glad I've gotten the chance to do it. (Next week) I'll be racing against some of the best kids in the country. You want to stay with them and at the end, beat them."